My deepest regrets for not posting sooner. And I don't even know who still follows this. I was driving home yesterday and I thought struck me that I had once, in a time of quite desperation, put out to the universe (on this particular page) that I wanted to be in San Francisco. Tonight I went back through my blogs and found those posts. They were dated back as early as April and a few hints at going north were spotted in March. I had mentioned I wanted to be in the Bay Area, working in a marine related field. I wanted to be HAPPY.
Today I was driving home from work when I thought of those old blogs.
Today I was driving home from my new job at the Aquarium of the Bay.
Today I was driving home from Aquarium of the Bay in San Francisco.
Today I pulled into my new apartment in San Jose.
Today I made dinner for my boyfriend, cleaned our apartment and sat here and realized how euphorically happy I am.
Tonight, I am realizing that whatever you put out into the universe, will always, always, ALWAYS come back to you.
For those of you that don't know I made it. I made it to the Bay. I live in South Bay, in San Jose. I work as a naturalist at the Aquarium of the Bay in San Francisco. I am exactly where I need to be at this point in my life. I am in love with someone that is truly the best man I know. He is wonderful, he is a gentleman and just thinking about him makes me blush. I know that where I am, at this exact moment in my life, is exactly where I am supposed to be. There's no where else in this world that I need to be than on this couch, in this place, with these people right now. I wish upon everyone in the world this amazing feeling that I feel all the time. Life has been gradually getting better and better. A few months ago, I could have sworn that how I felt was the most happiness anyone could ever feel. This month, I'm even MORE happy. I'm excited to see how I'm going to feel NEXT month. It's ridiculous, but I can't stress enough how much the law of attraction means!!
This is a quick update on my life. I am alive. I am happy. I am healthy. I am in love. I am here. I did it.
I miss you all, I love you all...come visit in San Francisco!
BREE :D
Friday, October 29, 2010
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
The go-getter
How strange it is we build these walls and define ourselves by our boundaries, when we havw, by nature, such an infinite purpose to wander.
I sit here staring out the window. It's merely glass. Tempered so not to break. But it's a portal. It shows me the endless wonder of what lays beyond these four panels that pull me into solemn confinement. I'm comfortable here. I'm sitting on a soft bed, I have a phone next to me, an ipod too. With the World Wide Web at my fingertips, who needs the sprawl of this wide world? Why not be the spider that makes the web?
There are places I'd like to be right now. I know no where is as great as where I am at this very moment...but I can't help but have that itching, burning, painfully incurable wanderlust syndrome come over me again. I love being in my car, I love traveling. I love being somewhere new to find adventures you wouldn't see just by clicking "search" on all our Google-d lives. It is possible to go. I just have to get there.
To ignore circumstances in our lives that are so obviously thrust upon us to learn from, is ignorance. How do I ignore this incredible gift which has been dropped at my feet? How do I step aside and let this moment pass? How can I just watch this strange, beautiful cosmic coincidence merely flow by me? I'm not going to. I refuse to ignore the beauty of right now.
There really is a big, wide, beautiful world out there. Filled with people, places and opportunities there are waiting for me. Me. You. Us. All of us. What you put out into the world WILL come back to you.
For those that want it, they can have it.
Go get it.
Bree
I sit here staring out the window. It's merely glass. Tempered so not to break. But it's a portal. It shows me the endless wonder of what lays beyond these four panels that pull me into solemn confinement. I'm comfortable here. I'm sitting on a soft bed, I have a phone next to me, an ipod too. With the World Wide Web at my fingertips, who needs the sprawl of this wide world? Why not be the spider that makes the web?
There are places I'd like to be right now. I know no where is as great as where I am at this very moment...but I can't help but have that itching, burning, painfully incurable wanderlust syndrome come over me again. I love being in my car, I love traveling. I love being somewhere new to find adventures you wouldn't see just by clicking "search" on all our Google-d lives. It is possible to go. I just have to get there.
To ignore circumstances in our lives that are so obviously thrust upon us to learn from, is ignorance. How do I ignore this incredible gift which has been dropped at my feet? How do I step aside and let this moment pass? How can I just watch this strange, beautiful cosmic coincidence merely flow by me? I'm not going to. I refuse to ignore the beauty of right now.
There really is a big, wide, beautiful world out there. Filled with people, places and opportunities there are waiting for me. Me. You. Us. All of us. What you put out into the world WILL come back to you.
For those that want it, they can have it.
Go get it.
Bree
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Something slightly sugary
Ah the familiar click of rapidly moving keys under my fingers. There have been a ton of thoughts running through my head that I keep telling myself "I should blog about that!" But at the same time I can't seem to make enough time with all the extra time that I'm given.
I find it hard to write about things when I'm feeling happy. I feel that happy thoughts just seem to flow endlessly out of my mouth into the ears of innocent bystanders. Whether they care to hear about my happiness and joyous mood, they fall victim to the onslaught of cheery tones. I find blogging, or writing for that matter, is something that I use as a release of stressful emotion. I tend to sit down and want to write about something when I feel that burdening others with my overly moody emotions is just bad karma. I sit down at the computer when I can't hold in anymore of the overly powerful stirs of feelings and if they aren't released it will create the horrible word-vomit that occurs in the most unfortunate of places. My word-vomit is comparable to a frat house party where alcohol is consumed at a rate of astonishing speed and mixed with various forms of belligerent shmoozing and all at once comes hurling out in a slightly toxic and foul smelling mixture onto pledges and anyone unfortunately close enough to be in range of the spew.
So I decided to try something new.
How about talking about something happy? Just because I've repeated the story a million times doesn't mean that it's going to get a notch worse on the millionth and one time. It may make it better.
So, I'm happy! I'm overly, happy. I haven't felt this happy in a long time. It's a freeing happiness. A happiness that makes me smile when I wake up, grin throughout my day and go to sleep feeling hopefully optimistic about the future. It is almost sickening I know. I don't know how long this kind of euphoric happiness can last, so I'm embracing it while it is here. I'm squeezing the living hell out of it, going to make sure that every last drop of happy sap is sucked out of this feeling until it is shriveled up like a dry prune. And for no particular reason, or reasons maybe I've yet to admit to myself...I'm this happy. I can do anything, go anywhere, be whatever-the-hell-I-feel-like-being-today happy. It's strange really, because a few months ago I was convinced that happiness was a long lost friend of mine that I could fondly look back on our memories together. He occasionally stopped by for a cup of tea and was too quick to leave, but now I think that he may be here to stay for a slumber party, or two, or three, or a whole week.
People reaffirm thoughts that I know to be true in my own head but fail to listen to when my own conscious is screaming them at me. I need to hear them from someone else to make sure I can recognize they are real. What you put out into the universe will come back to you. I am a magnet for happy thoughts. I will not harbor unhealthy thoughts. I am a product of my own mood. Positive energy and good vibrations will be returned to you in time. The law of attraction will attract like people and like situations to myself. I know this to be true, it just got happily hammered into my head recently. So far, it has yet to prove me wrong.
Please don't :)
Here's to another overly positive and happy day tomorrow.
Good night world.
Bree
I find it hard to write about things when I'm feeling happy. I feel that happy thoughts just seem to flow endlessly out of my mouth into the ears of innocent bystanders. Whether they care to hear about my happiness and joyous mood, they fall victim to the onslaught of cheery tones. I find blogging, or writing for that matter, is something that I use as a release of stressful emotion. I tend to sit down and want to write about something when I feel that burdening others with my overly moody emotions is just bad karma. I sit down at the computer when I can't hold in anymore of the overly powerful stirs of feelings and if they aren't released it will create the horrible word-vomit that occurs in the most unfortunate of places. My word-vomit is comparable to a frat house party where alcohol is consumed at a rate of astonishing speed and mixed with various forms of belligerent shmoozing and all at once comes hurling out in a slightly toxic and foul smelling mixture onto pledges and anyone unfortunately close enough to be in range of the spew.
So I decided to try something new.
How about talking about something happy? Just because I've repeated the story a million times doesn't mean that it's going to get a notch worse on the millionth and one time. It may make it better.
So, I'm happy! I'm overly, happy. I haven't felt this happy in a long time. It's a freeing happiness. A happiness that makes me smile when I wake up, grin throughout my day and go to sleep feeling hopefully optimistic about the future. It is almost sickening I know. I don't know how long this kind of euphoric happiness can last, so I'm embracing it while it is here. I'm squeezing the living hell out of it, going to make sure that every last drop of happy sap is sucked out of this feeling until it is shriveled up like a dry prune. And for no particular reason, or reasons maybe I've yet to admit to myself...I'm this happy. I can do anything, go anywhere, be whatever-the-hell-I-feel-like-being-today happy. It's strange really, because a few months ago I was convinced that happiness was a long lost friend of mine that I could fondly look back on our memories together. He occasionally stopped by for a cup of tea and was too quick to leave, but now I think that he may be here to stay for a slumber party, or two, or three, or a whole week.
People reaffirm thoughts that I know to be true in my own head but fail to listen to when my own conscious is screaming them at me. I need to hear them from someone else to make sure I can recognize they are real. What you put out into the universe will come back to you. I am a magnet for happy thoughts. I will not harbor unhealthy thoughts. I am a product of my own mood. Positive energy and good vibrations will be returned to you in time. The law of attraction will attract like people and like situations to myself. I know this to be true, it just got happily hammered into my head recently. So far, it has yet to prove me wrong.
Please don't :)
Here's to another overly positive and happy day tomorrow.
Good night world.
Bree
Monday, July 5, 2010
Everyday's so caffeinated I wish they were Golden Gated
Are you going to San Francisco?
Wow what a week I've had. I broke free and drove up the coast of California to San Francisco. Kelly and I took the Pacific Coast Highway up to San Simeon, with a stop in Cambria for lunch. We watched the elephant seals fling dirt on themselves in the fog and continued north to Ragged Point where we stopped for a romp in the thick fog and...in my case...numerous bathroom breaks. From Ragged Point we took the twisted winding highway up to Big Sur, where we camped for the night in Pfeiffer Big Sur state park. The colors of the forest we're so vibrant...pictures didn't even do them justice. The next morning we drove to the Monterey Bay Aquarium and tore ourselves away from Cannery Row to drive another 3 hours to Vallejo. For anyone that hasn't ever been to Vallejo...I'd say it's a spot you can avoid on your next roadtrip...
Luckily my dear English friend Niki lives there...and may as well be the only white girl in Vallejo...and we stayed at her place for a few days. She was my roommate when I was living in Waikoloa on the Big Island and I remember why we got along so well. She's just one of those free-spirit people that you can talk about anything with and do anything with and she's completely down for it all.
From Vallejo we drove into wine country, to the town of St. Helena. The grunge of the city left behind us, the sprawl of thousands of neatly trimmed rows of grapes welcomed us to the famous Napa Valley. It had always been a dream of mine to go wine tasting in Napa, and when we pulled up to Beringer Vineyards I was smiling so big my face started to hurt. If anyone hasn't had the opportunity to go wine tasting that lives in California...PLEASE do. It's an experience that is so unique and SO much fun! The area of Napa is so beautiful and the town of St. Helena is absolutely exquisite. Even if you don't drink wine, it's worth a trip up there just for the history. For $20 we got an hour and a half tour around the vineyard and aging tunnels and four samples of wine...even some dark chocolate :)! The port wine from Beringer...OOH THE PORT WINE!...is my favorite...I ended up splurging on a bottle.
That same night Kelly, Niki and I, along with some new friends from Marin...went into the city for Taco Tuesdays. I actually went out! I know, shocking. And I stayed out until 5 am! AH! Even hungover I was able to get up bright and early and tour the city of San Francisco and the Marine Mammal Center. I drank drinking chocolate at the Ghirardelli Factory and saw fishermans wharf and drove across the Golden Gate Bridge. Saved the cable car for the next time I'm up there...so that way I have an excuse to go back :).
But I really don't think I'll have a hard time going back up there. I'm already counting down the days until I can get back to that city by the bay. I'm frantically looking for my chance to run back up to bay area. I love it. Not just the city of San Fran, but all over it. The people, the scenery, the smells, the tastes, I love it all. The hardest part of the entire trip was taking the 5 freeway back towards LA. Don't get me wrong I love LA, but at one point Kelly and I looked at each other and said, "What if we just turn around now and go back? Do you think anyone would mind?"
I WILL BE BACK IN SAN FRANCISCO.
or somewhere along that huge bay.
*Sigh* Until then...
Bree
Wow what a week I've had. I broke free and drove up the coast of California to San Francisco. Kelly and I took the Pacific Coast Highway up to San Simeon, with a stop in Cambria for lunch. We watched the elephant seals fling dirt on themselves in the fog and continued north to Ragged Point where we stopped for a romp in the thick fog and...in my case...numerous bathroom breaks. From Ragged Point we took the twisted winding highway up to Big Sur, where we camped for the night in Pfeiffer Big Sur state park. The colors of the forest we're so vibrant...pictures didn't even do them justice. The next morning we drove to the Monterey Bay Aquarium and tore ourselves away from Cannery Row to drive another 3 hours to Vallejo. For anyone that hasn't ever been to Vallejo...I'd say it's a spot you can avoid on your next roadtrip...
Luckily my dear English friend Niki lives there...and may as well be the only white girl in Vallejo...and we stayed at her place for a few days. She was my roommate when I was living in Waikoloa on the Big Island and I remember why we got along so well. She's just one of those free-spirit people that you can talk about anything with and do anything with and she's completely down for it all.
From Vallejo we drove into wine country, to the town of St. Helena. The grunge of the city left behind us, the sprawl of thousands of neatly trimmed rows of grapes welcomed us to the famous Napa Valley. It had always been a dream of mine to go wine tasting in Napa, and when we pulled up to Beringer Vineyards I was smiling so big my face started to hurt. If anyone hasn't had the opportunity to go wine tasting that lives in California...PLEASE do. It's an experience that is so unique and SO much fun! The area of Napa is so beautiful and the town of St. Helena is absolutely exquisite. Even if you don't drink wine, it's worth a trip up there just for the history. For $20 we got an hour and a half tour around the vineyard and aging tunnels and four samples of wine...even some dark chocolate :)! The port wine from Beringer...OOH THE PORT WINE!...is my favorite...I ended up splurging on a bottle.
That same night Kelly, Niki and I, along with some new friends from Marin...went into the city for Taco Tuesdays. I actually went out! I know, shocking. And I stayed out until 5 am! AH! Even hungover I was able to get up bright and early and tour the city of San Francisco and the Marine Mammal Center. I drank drinking chocolate at the Ghirardelli Factory and saw fishermans wharf and drove across the Golden Gate Bridge. Saved the cable car for the next time I'm up there...so that way I have an excuse to go back :).
But I really don't think I'll have a hard time going back up there. I'm already counting down the days until I can get back to that city by the bay. I'm frantically looking for my chance to run back up to bay area. I love it. Not just the city of San Fran, but all over it. The people, the scenery, the smells, the tastes, I love it all. The hardest part of the entire trip was taking the 5 freeway back towards LA. Don't get me wrong I love LA, but at one point Kelly and I looked at each other and said, "What if we just turn around now and go back? Do you think anyone would mind?"
I WILL BE BACK IN SAN FRANCISCO.
or somewhere along that huge bay.
*Sigh* Until then...
Bree
Friday, June 25, 2010
Abundance
I'm feeling overly emotional tonight. Ten bucks says mother nature may be to blame for this one. I feel like crying for no particular reason but to cry. I find myself trying to create a reason in my head. Kelly and I may need to bring a box of emergency lady accessories on our trip.
I leave on Sunday for northern California. I keep saying it's to San Fransisco but I don't know if that's where I'm going. I'm going all over the place. To Pismo, San Simeon, Ragged Point, Big Sur, Vallejo, Napa, San Fran, all the way down the central valley back to Santa Clarita. I'm looking forward to it a lot. And than 7 days later I'm going to drive to Park Moabi on the Colorado River for four days...it's the wanderlust syndrome, I told you.
The part I'm looking forward to the most is being able to talk. And talk. And talk. And the endless hours of driving being absorbed by talking. I want to talk until my jaw hurts and my throat is raw and the air in my car turns into a Scrabble board. I want to soak up the news and gossip with my old friends and I want seep out all the emotions and things in me until I drip with nothing but divine happiness. I want to spit the words out of my mouth and devour the words into my ears and be wrung out and hung out to dry when its all said and done. And guess what? I will. Oh I will. And everyone better be ready to hear it.
And everyone better be ready for some crazy amounts of pictures. And more pictures. And pictures of pictures and pictures of me and pictures of my friends and pictures of landmarks and pictures of food and pictures of driving and pictures of signs and pictures of trees and pictures of wine and laughs and smiles and views and pictures of pictures of pictures.
WHEW. What an abundance tonight is :)
Bree
I leave on Sunday for northern California. I keep saying it's to San Fransisco but I don't know if that's where I'm going. I'm going all over the place. To Pismo, San Simeon, Ragged Point, Big Sur, Vallejo, Napa, San Fran, all the way down the central valley back to Santa Clarita. I'm looking forward to it a lot. And than 7 days later I'm going to drive to Park Moabi on the Colorado River for four days...it's the wanderlust syndrome, I told you.
The part I'm looking forward to the most is being able to talk. And talk. And talk. And the endless hours of driving being absorbed by talking. I want to talk until my jaw hurts and my throat is raw and the air in my car turns into a Scrabble board. I want to soak up the news and gossip with my old friends and I want seep out all the emotions and things in me until I drip with nothing but divine happiness. I want to spit the words out of my mouth and devour the words into my ears and be wrung out and hung out to dry when its all said and done. And guess what? I will. Oh I will. And everyone better be ready to hear it.
And everyone better be ready for some crazy amounts of pictures. And more pictures. And pictures of pictures and pictures of me and pictures of my friends and pictures of landmarks and pictures of food and pictures of driving and pictures of signs and pictures of trees and pictures of wine and laughs and smiles and views and pictures of pictures of pictures.
WHEW. What an abundance tonight is :)
Bree
Thursday, June 24, 2010
I've got a symbol in my driveway
For some odd reason, I am not sure what my picture I have set up above this ^^^ represents about myself. And in a way, I don't like what I think I am thinking it is representing. It can be one of those glass-half-empty glass-half-full pictures. Am I running away from my problems, or towards them? What's the symbolic meaning behind it? Is life not meant to be symbolic and is it merely the human imagination that is convincing us that everything has to have a rhyme and a reason?
Well. I believe everything happens for a reason.
And I have said this before and I will say it again until I turn blue in the face. Everything happens for a reason and the signs are pointing you in the right directions. You just have to loose your GPS and start following your heart. GPS will tell you turn by turn how to get there, but you're missing all the great sights along the way. Your destination is ahead on your left, but on your right is Chance, Fate, Opportunity, Daring, Fun, Adventure and I even heard they've been known to throw in their good friends Love and Friendship. I'm learning this the hard way. Or maybe the right way.
Blah blah blah.
Good night world.
Bree
Well. I believe everything happens for a reason.
And I have said this before and I will say it again until I turn blue in the face. Everything happens for a reason and the signs are pointing you in the right directions. You just have to loose your GPS and start following your heart. GPS will tell you turn by turn how to get there, but you're missing all the great sights along the way. Your destination is ahead on your left, but on your right is Chance, Fate, Opportunity, Daring, Fun, Adventure and I even heard they've been known to throw in their good friends Love and Friendship. I'm learning this the hard way. Or maybe the right way.
Blah blah blah.
Good night world.
Bree
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Mindfullness Mindlessness
Everyone keeps telling me to write. Write Bree, write about this, write about that, write when you're happy, write when you're sad, write when you're right, write when you're wrong. I find I write only when something is such a deep, raw emotion that I feel like if I DON'T write it down, it'll just rub me until I bleed from the inside out. I write when I feel like I HAVE to get the word's out because otherwise they'll be like my own form of toxic poison. How crude and awful of me to say that my own words and thoughts are like poison. I apologize.
But everyone is their own worst enemy right?
The amount of change that has overcome me in the past month since I've moved home is a bit ridiculous. I'm not sure if sharing every mundane and obscurely huge detail of my private life is 100% appropriate at this time, but I do think that everything in life happens for a reason. This has been proven to me time and time again..and in the past few days...time and time again...again. I just have to remember what I already know, even if the reminder is coming from a least-suspected source...in the form of a question...answering my own question...questioning my own answer...being referred to again that everything happens for a reason.
Sorry for the riddled tongue twister. I'm just merely blabbing. Trying to help a slightly-uninspired mind find a little inspiration.
The other night, something really beautiful and magical DID happen between my dear friend Kelly, my brother Jonathan, my little cousin Noah and I. We got into a deep, heartfelt intellectual conversation. It involved the universe and life and light and soul and body and mind. Topics that I think we were too afraid to approach on our own, but as the circle of love opened up around us we let everything out. Even Noah, who's only 10, proved that he's an older soul that I think any of us could have guessed. But just the spill of emotions and new ideas was so beautiful, the energy in the room literally changed. It was a tangible, electrical, amazing energy that you could almost ALMOST hold in your hands. To be surrounded by such a diverse group of long-time family and friends and know that we can share anything and say anything without being judged was really wonderful. We had trust in each other and created an amazing bond between all of us, just by merely talking.
I don't know where I'm going with this...I guess if I can give you a moral of my ramblings it would be just to go out into the world tomorrow with an open mind. Everyone, every situation, every single little thing and person and event that comes across your path happens for a reason. A reason that many of us won't know until years down the road. I'm thankful for the amazing people that are in my life right now, and for the amazing people that used to be in my life, because deep-down, I've learned invaluable life lessons from all of you that I could never have learned on my own.
Be open minded. Ok? Ok.
Good night.
Bree
But everyone is their own worst enemy right?
The amount of change that has overcome me in the past month since I've moved home is a bit ridiculous. I'm not sure if sharing every mundane and obscurely huge detail of my private life is 100% appropriate at this time, but I do think that everything in life happens for a reason. This has been proven to me time and time again..and in the past few days...time and time again...again. I just have to remember what I already know, even if the reminder is coming from a least-suspected source...in the form of a question...answering my own question...questioning my own answer...being referred to again that everything happens for a reason.
Sorry for the riddled tongue twister. I'm just merely blabbing. Trying to help a slightly-uninspired mind find a little inspiration.
The other night, something really beautiful and magical DID happen between my dear friend Kelly, my brother Jonathan, my little cousin Noah and I. We got into a deep, heartfelt intellectual conversation. It involved the universe and life and light and soul and body and mind. Topics that I think we were too afraid to approach on our own, but as the circle of love opened up around us we let everything out. Even Noah, who's only 10, proved that he's an older soul that I think any of us could have guessed. But just the spill of emotions and new ideas was so beautiful, the energy in the room literally changed. It was a tangible, electrical, amazing energy that you could almost ALMOST hold in your hands. To be surrounded by such a diverse group of long-time family and friends and know that we can share anything and say anything without being judged was really wonderful. We had trust in each other and created an amazing bond between all of us, just by merely talking.
I don't know where I'm going with this...I guess if I can give you a moral of my ramblings it would be just to go out into the world tomorrow with an open mind. Everyone, every situation, every single little thing and person and event that comes across your path happens for a reason. A reason that many of us won't know until years down the road. I'm thankful for the amazing people that are in my life right now, and for the amazing people that used to be in my life, because deep-down, I've learned invaluable life lessons from all of you that I could never have learned on my own.
Be open minded. Ok? Ok.
Good night.
Bree
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Reflections
And here comes another novel.
Bare with it...or not.
I don't know how to say what I am feeling. The words seem far and few between. Sometimes words aren't enough to express human emotion. You can sprinkle in some adjectives, throw around the nouns and spice up the verbs but it may never do true justice to what a beating heart can feel. The only way to describe my emotions would be to SHOW you them. Not tears, not laughter, but the physicality of them. The embodiment of my memories. I want you to feel the sand, hear the voices, smell the air, see with your own eyes the beauty of the remembrances in my mind. I feel so grateful that I can shut my eyes and go back to that place, go back to that time. I will never EVER take that for granted.
Leaving Hawaii was difficult to say the least. I dealt with it in many ways. It was almost a grieving process. I was angry, sad, depressed, I had a bout of denial. I finally accepted it. I took in ALL that I could in those last few weeks that I was there. I left nothing untouched. I finally pursued everything that I had said "Oh..I wish I could do that...maybe some other time." There is nothing left on that island that I wanted to do that I didn't. After a while, when the acceptance of leaving had sunk in, I almost wanted to just GO. I wanted to rip it off like a bandaid and not draw out the process of saying goodbye.
The morning I sat in that airport, staring out the windows of my lasts views of Hawaii, a rainbow...the brightest rainbow I had EVER seen...stared back at me. At the time I considered despising it. It was like the sky was mocking me. I look back now and realize it was a farewell. It was the island's way of giving me a warm aloha and it drew lyrics from a local Hawaiian artist...
"Well I woke up this morning
A rainbow filled the sky
That was God telling me
Everything, everything is gonna be alright"
Jack Johnson...I don't if you've heard of him.
Now that I am back in the states, that strange far-away land called the Mainland, I can reflect on it with a happy heart. I took the heartache sitting on that airplane, knowing I was leaving behind beautiful friends and memories, rather than leaving feeling like I had regretted something. I am here in Southern California, in my old room, in my parents house. I am car less (momentarily), jobless, and sometimes a little down on myself. But I know that something is just waiting out there. I feel like I'm perched on the edge of a cliff and I'm just waiting to jump. Something is coming, I can feel it. I can see it, I just can't define the details yet.
In the meantime I want to do everything that I have never done before in LA. I want to hike up the Hollywood sign. I rode the rollercoaster at the Santa Monica pier. I want to go to the Griffith Observatory, Olvera Street, see a screening of a tv show. There's a lot here I haven't done.
Than maybe I'll go north. San Fransisco. Yup. That's where I'll go. Not because I'm chasing a greener pasture, not because I think it'll be better. But because I want to see and experience everything. There's so much out there. It's within reach, even when I think that it's not. It's there. I know it is.
If you made it this far...CHEERS. My reflections are merely an outlet. I need to get them out, otherwise my head my implode with thoughts. And we all know that if my imagination and this crazy mind of mine were let loose in the world, disastrous (or marvelous) things may happen. Either way, the world isn't ready for that just yet.
Aloha from the west coast.
Bree
Bare with it...or not.
I don't know how to say what I am feeling. The words seem far and few between. Sometimes words aren't enough to express human emotion. You can sprinkle in some adjectives, throw around the nouns and spice up the verbs but it may never do true justice to what a beating heart can feel. The only way to describe my emotions would be to SHOW you them. Not tears, not laughter, but the physicality of them. The embodiment of my memories. I want you to feel the sand, hear the voices, smell the air, see with your own eyes the beauty of the remembrances in my mind. I feel so grateful that I can shut my eyes and go back to that place, go back to that time. I will never EVER take that for granted.
Leaving Hawaii was difficult to say the least. I dealt with it in many ways. It was almost a grieving process. I was angry, sad, depressed, I had a bout of denial. I finally accepted it. I took in ALL that I could in those last few weeks that I was there. I left nothing untouched. I finally pursued everything that I had said "Oh..I wish I could do that...maybe some other time." There is nothing left on that island that I wanted to do that I didn't. After a while, when the acceptance of leaving had sunk in, I almost wanted to just GO. I wanted to rip it off like a bandaid and not draw out the process of saying goodbye.
The morning I sat in that airport, staring out the windows of my lasts views of Hawaii, a rainbow...the brightest rainbow I had EVER seen...stared back at me. At the time I considered despising it. It was like the sky was mocking me. I look back now and realize it was a farewell. It was the island's way of giving me a warm aloha and it drew lyrics from a local Hawaiian artist...
"Well I woke up this morning
A rainbow filled the sky
That was God telling me
Everything, everything is gonna be alright"
Jack Johnson...I don't if you've heard of him.
Now that I am back in the states, that strange far-away land called the Mainland, I can reflect on it with a happy heart. I took the heartache sitting on that airplane, knowing I was leaving behind beautiful friends and memories, rather than leaving feeling like I had regretted something. I am here in Southern California, in my old room, in my parents house. I am car less (momentarily), jobless, and sometimes a little down on myself. But I know that something is just waiting out there. I feel like I'm perched on the edge of a cliff and I'm just waiting to jump. Something is coming, I can feel it. I can see it, I just can't define the details yet.
In the meantime I want to do everything that I have never done before in LA. I want to hike up the Hollywood sign. I rode the rollercoaster at the Santa Monica pier. I want to go to the Griffith Observatory, Olvera Street, see a screening of a tv show. There's a lot here I haven't done.
Than maybe I'll go north. San Fransisco. Yup. That's where I'll go. Not because I'm chasing a greener pasture, not because I think it'll be better. But because I want to see and experience everything. There's so much out there. It's within reach, even when I think that it's not. It's there. I know it is.
If you made it this far...CHEERS. My reflections are merely an outlet. I need to get them out, otherwise my head my implode with thoughts. And we all know that if my imagination and this crazy mind of mine were let loose in the world, disastrous (or marvelous) things may happen. Either way, the world isn't ready for that just yet.
Aloha from the west coast.
Bree
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Growing up
We are all growing up.
And sometimes it's easier to grow up when you have a forecast of a good outcome. But when you're left unknowing, it can make moving forward really hard.
I'm a deep pool of stress and emotion right now. I mixture of excitement, resentment, cheer, foreboding, heartbreak and joy. I don't know where I'm going, and I don't know what I'm going to do, and I'm terrified. I have dreams, but I really don't want to let my dreams be dreams. I'm trying not to. The hardest part of my transition into a new chapter is leaving Hawaii. A part of me is drawing out the process probably longer than necessary. Another part of me wants to rip it off like a bandaid. Just get it over with...but I'd rather take the heartbreak when I get on that plane knowing I'm leaving behind beautiful friends and memories, than to be in the air thinking I had made nothing of my time here.
If I even so much as see an airplane I look away. They're going to have to drag me onto that transportation device by my feet, my nails clawing into the carpet and throwing a tantrum. Sometimes I daydream about silently crying my way onto the airplane, my heart breaking into a million pieces in my chest...buckling myself in the seat, watching the clouds and the ocean roll by the window, and as they go to shut the cabin door, I stand up and scream and run to stewardess, shove her out of the way and burst into the tropical sunshine and run...and don't stop running until I hit Waimea, than sink into that deep clear water and listen to the whales. I won't. But, I can imagine.
If all goes well though (which it will, I know it...I feel it) this will be an opportunity to do something that I have always dreamed of doing. I can start with a foot on the right path and go work towards something that I have wanted to do for years. I can work in a marine related field, get up to the Bay Area and volunteer at the Marine Mammal Center. I'll make new friends, I'll have new experiences. Maybe the Bay Area will be my next Hawaii. It will all work out in the end.
But in the mean time, I have a tube of waterproof mascara and a shoulders of friends to cry on.
...Bree
And sometimes it's easier to grow up when you have a forecast of a good outcome. But when you're left unknowing, it can make moving forward really hard.
I'm a deep pool of stress and emotion right now. I mixture of excitement, resentment, cheer, foreboding, heartbreak and joy. I don't know where I'm going, and I don't know what I'm going to do, and I'm terrified. I have dreams, but I really don't want to let my dreams be dreams. I'm trying not to. The hardest part of my transition into a new chapter is leaving Hawaii. A part of me is drawing out the process probably longer than necessary. Another part of me wants to rip it off like a bandaid. Just get it over with...but I'd rather take the heartbreak when I get on that plane knowing I'm leaving behind beautiful friends and memories, than to be in the air thinking I had made nothing of my time here.
If I even so much as see an airplane I look away. They're going to have to drag me onto that transportation device by my feet, my nails clawing into the carpet and throwing a tantrum. Sometimes I daydream about silently crying my way onto the airplane, my heart breaking into a million pieces in my chest...buckling myself in the seat, watching the clouds and the ocean roll by the window, and as they go to shut the cabin door, I stand up and scream and run to stewardess, shove her out of the way and burst into the tropical sunshine and run...and don't stop running until I hit Waimea, than sink into that deep clear water and listen to the whales. I won't. But, I can imagine.
If all goes well though (which it will, I know it...I feel it) this will be an opportunity to do something that I have always dreamed of doing. I can start with a foot on the right path and go work towards something that I have wanted to do for years. I can work in a marine related field, get up to the Bay Area and volunteer at the Marine Mammal Center. I'll make new friends, I'll have new experiences. Maybe the Bay Area will be my next Hawaii. It will all work out in the end.
But in the mean time, I have a tube of waterproof mascara and a shoulders of friends to cry on.
...Bree
Sunday, April 25, 2010
A mixture of emotions displayed in song...
California here we come, right back where we started from.
Yes, I'm moving back to California.
California, knows how to parrrrty.
I'm excited to see my friends and actually get a chance to do some stuff that I haven't been able to do here in Hawaii.
Those Hollywood nights, in those Hollywood hills.
Maybe I'll get the courage to go to Hollywood at night. Nah probably not.
I'm going back back back to Cali Cali Cali.
Road trip?
I wish they all could be California girls.
I've heard they're beautiful ;)
Beverly Hills, that's where I want to be.
Nah not really, but I'd like to know that if I wanted to go, the opportunity would be there.
Nobody walks in LA.
So true, that may be one of the hardest things to leave behind; the ability to walk wherever I want to.
I left my heart in San Fransisco.
*shrugs*
LA woman.
I guess that will always be me...where my roots are.
California dreamin on such a winter's day.
It's nice and sunny here in Hawaii, but I'm trying to optimistic about leaving it ok?
All the vampires walking through the valley, move west down Ventura Blvd.
AND I'M FREEEEEEEEEEEEE FREEEEEEEEE BALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLIN!...oh wait, it's fallin huh...?
Livin it up at the Hotel California, what a lovely place...
Is there such a place as the Hotel California? Besides CSUCI...
Do you know the way to San Jose?
Heard that place is nice too..
I'm going to California with an aching in my heart.
Oh Led...it's so true.
Ventura Highway, in the sunshine.
I still can't figure out why there are alligator lizards in the air...what the hell are alligator lizards??
Still the same girl, who builds her own frames for the pictures that she paints of the lights of Monterey coming in across the bay, back to my same girl.
I love you Monterey *sigh*
Sweet Thursday's calling me back up to Monterey
This entire song reminds me of my road trip to the aquarium and camping in Big Sur.
There will always be the Honolulu City lights in my head....Alohe Oe.
Yes, I'm moving back to California.
California, knows how to parrrrty.
I'm excited to see my friends and actually get a chance to do some stuff that I haven't been able to do here in Hawaii.
Those Hollywood nights, in those Hollywood hills.
Maybe I'll get the courage to go to Hollywood at night. Nah probably not.
I'm going back back back to Cali Cali Cali.
Road trip?
I wish they all could be California girls.
I've heard they're beautiful ;)
Beverly Hills, that's where I want to be.
Nah not really, but I'd like to know that if I wanted to go, the opportunity would be there.
Nobody walks in LA.
So true, that may be one of the hardest things to leave behind; the ability to walk wherever I want to.
I left my heart in San Fransisco.
*shrugs*
LA woman.
I guess that will always be me...where my roots are.
California dreamin on such a winter's day.
It's nice and sunny here in Hawaii, but I'm trying to optimistic about leaving it ok?
All the vampires walking through the valley, move west down Ventura Blvd.
AND I'M FREEEEEEEEEEEEE FREEEEEEEEE BALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLIN!...oh wait, it's fallin huh...?
Livin it up at the Hotel California, what a lovely place...
Is there such a place as the Hotel California? Besides CSUCI...
Do you know the way to San Jose?
Heard that place is nice too..
I'm going to California with an aching in my heart.
Oh Led...it's so true.
Ventura Highway, in the sunshine.
I still can't figure out why there are alligator lizards in the air...what the hell are alligator lizards??
Still the same girl, who builds her own frames for the pictures that she paints of the lights of Monterey coming in across the bay, back to my same girl.
I love you Monterey *sigh*
Sweet Thursday's calling me back up to Monterey
This entire song reminds me of my road trip to the aquarium and camping in Big Sur.
There will always be the Honolulu City lights in my head....Alohe Oe.
Saturday, April 24, 2010
This crazy little thing called LIFE
So tonight was amazing. Incredible and wonderful and everything that I could have asked and wished for it to be and than some.
I had a rough day, trying to make decisions about what's going to happen within the next month...moving back to the mainland, trying to find jobs, etc. I had wanted to go to the Kokua Festival (Jack Johnson's Kokua Hawaii foundation benefit concert to raise money for environmental causes) here in Waikiki from the get-go but was unable to obtain tickets for financial reasons. I knew that when those tickets went on sale, I was quietly weeping to myself on the couch knowing I was too poor to afford seeing that concert.
This morning I had vowed to try to avoid Waikiki at all costs, just because I didn't want to be tempted to try to break into the Shell to see the performance. But, emotion got the best of me and I decided that it would be better to camp out in the park outside the concert and listen to the music, than to completely avoid going at all.
3:00pm Grady and I trudge down Waikiki in the glaring hot Hawaiian sunlight to Kapiolani Park. Damn it, if I'm living in Hawaii I want to at least LISTEN to the Kokua Festival...it's only once a year in Oahu! We got there around 4:00 and listened to the first three performers. We set up camp right behind a cop car, in the midst of hippies tight-rope walking and bbqing and getting stoned. I couldn't see anything, but if I listened really close I could hear them.
Sunset came and went and Ziggy Marley played. Around 8:00 the first Jack Johnson songs came on. I was all excited to just hear the distant screams of the audience and croons of Mr. Johnson. It was from a distance, I wish I could have been closer, but it was worth it just to be as close as I was. As people in the park started to trickle out, it was just Grady and I under a bright industrial light that ran along the security fence, swaying back and forth to Jack's rhythmic melodies. From the corner of my eye, I see a guy approaching. This guy walks up to us, "Want two tickets?"
"No thank you, don't have the money," was my sad response. I was assuming he'd continue his scalping effort at a different location. He just smiled and dropped the two tickets in our laps. My only response was a muttered, "...are you serious?" He just turned back and smiled and walked away.
I quickly started scanning the tickets, are these fake? They've got to be fake, no way this is real...There's the date, there's the time, there's the seat number... OH MY GOD!!! WE JUST GOT TICKETS!! Grady and I sprinted to the entrance...they scanned it...we were IN!!
I ran to the side of the ropes, it was standing room only. But WHO CARES!!?? I was in Kokua Festival! I never dreamed I'd be there...this close to Jack Johnson. I was right under the big screen, the sound was better, I could see him...a little inch big guy on the stage. I was shaking with excitement and kept saying, "CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT JUST HAPPENED!?!" Grady just was shaking his head and laughing.
There was a lady standing next to us who was listening to one of his songs and she looked at us and asked, "I don't even know the name of this song, it's my favorite song, do you know what it's called?"
"Oh, it's called 'Home', I love this song too!" I kept singing, just brushing off her question.
At the end of the song, Grady taps me on the shoulder. The lady was gone, but he's holding an envelope with two more tickets in it, "Want to go to the front?" he asks.
The lady who was standing next to us gave us her orchestra seat tickets and walked away, we couldn't find her to thank her or anything. ORCHESTRA SEATS. I MEAN LIKE, 2ND ROW ORCHESTRA SEATS!!
This seems like a crazy joke, but it was so real. We walked right up to the VIP area, they walked us to our seats. Now I'm crying. By sheer luck, generosity of strangers and by someone that was looking out for us tonight, we made it from outside in a park behind a cop car to 2nd row of the Jack Johnson Kokua Festival. So surreal. We were able to watch Ziggy Marley, Taj Mahal, Jack and others for two hours for FREE. I couldn't afford the $40 presale, non-the-less the $80 tickets, God forbid I would have bought those orchestra seats that were going for over $500 this morning. I got them for free by some insane karmic blessing. It was ridiculous.
I don't have any pictures to show you, my phone was dead and I had no camera. How was I expecting to be able to see that??!! But I will never EVER forget the kindness those people showed me tonight. I will forever hold that memory SO dear to me. What an amazing thing happened tonight...wow.
...on my list of things I want to do before I die, there was see a Kokua Festival. Check :)
What you put out into the Universe, will come back to you.
~A very happy Bree
I had a rough day, trying to make decisions about what's going to happen within the next month...moving back to the mainland, trying to find jobs, etc. I had wanted to go to the Kokua Festival (Jack Johnson's Kokua Hawaii foundation benefit concert to raise money for environmental causes) here in Waikiki from the get-go but was unable to obtain tickets for financial reasons. I knew that when those tickets went on sale, I was quietly weeping to myself on the couch knowing I was too poor to afford seeing that concert.
This morning I had vowed to try to avoid Waikiki at all costs, just because I didn't want to be tempted to try to break into the Shell to see the performance. But, emotion got the best of me and I decided that it would be better to camp out in the park outside the concert and listen to the music, than to completely avoid going at all.
3:00pm Grady and I trudge down Waikiki in the glaring hot Hawaiian sunlight to Kapiolani Park. Damn it, if I'm living in Hawaii I want to at least LISTEN to the Kokua Festival...it's only once a year in Oahu! We got there around 4:00 and listened to the first three performers. We set up camp right behind a cop car, in the midst of hippies tight-rope walking and bbqing and getting stoned. I couldn't see anything, but if I listened really close I could hear them.
Sunset came and went and Ziggy Marley played. Around 8:00 the first Jack Johnson songs came on. I was all excited to just hear the distant screams of the audience and croons of Mr. Johnson. It was from a distance, I wish I could have been closer, but it was worth it just to be as close as I was. As people in the park started to trickle out, it was just Grady and I under a bright industrial light that ran along the security fence, swaying back and forth to Jack's rhythmic melodies. From the corner of my eye, I see a guy approaching. This guy walks up to us, "Want two tickets?"
"No thank you, don't have the money," was my sad response. I was assuming he'd continue his scalping effort at a different location. He just smiled and dropped the two tickets in our laps. My only response was a muttered, "...are you serious?" He just turned back and smiled and walked away.
I quickly started scanning the tickets, are these fake? They've got to be fake, no way this is real...There's the date, there's the time, there's the seat number... OH MY GOD!!! WE JUST GOT TICKETS!! Grady and I sprinted to the entrance...they scanned it...we were IN!!
I ran to the side of the ropes, it was standing room only. But WHO CARES!!?? I was in Kokua Festival! I never dreamed I'd be there...this close to Jack Johnson. I was right under the big screen, the sound was better, I could see him...a little inch big guy on the stage. I was shaking with excitement and kept saying, "CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT JUST HAPPENED!?!" Grady just was shaking his head and laughing.
There was a lady standing next to us who was listening to one of his songs and she looked at us and asked, "I don't even know the name of this song, it's my favorite song, do you know what it's called?"
"Oh, it's called 'Home', I love this song too!" I kept singing, just brushing off her question.
At the end of the song, Grady taps me on the shoulder. The lady was gone, but he's holding an envelope with two more tickets in it, "Want to go to the front?" he asks.
The lady who was standing next to us gave us her orchestra seat tickets and walked away, we couldn't find her to thank her or anything. ORCHESTRA SEATS. I MEAN LIKE, 2ND ROW ORCHESTRA SEATS!!
This seems like a crazy joke, but it was so real. We walked right up to the VIP area, they walked us to our seats. Now I'm crying. By sheer luck, generosity of strangers and by someone that was looking out for us tonight, we made it from outside in a park behind a cop car to 2nd row of the Jack Johnson Kokua Festival. So surreal. We were able to watch Ziggy Marley, Taj Mahal, Jack and others for two hours for FREE. I couldn't afford the $40 presale, non-the-less the $80 tickets, God forbid I would have bought those orchestra seats that were going for over $500 this morning. I got them for free by some insane karmic blessing. It was ridiculous.
I don't have any pictures to show you, my phone was dead and I had no camera. How was I expecting to be able to see that??!! But I will never EVER forget the kindness those people showed me tonight. I will forever hold that memory SO dear to me. What an amazing thing happened tonight...wow.
...on my list of things I want to do before I die, there was see a Kokua Festival. Check :)
What you put out into the Universe, will come back to you.
~A very happy Bree
Monday, April 19, 2010
Caught someone in the middle of the strangest love triangle...
So mine is a tale of love. A tale of a heart torn, of a mind distressed, of emotions pulled from three corners of the world.
Today I heard a Spanish guitar and my heart ached. A few nights ago I had a dream I was driving down the 405 freeway. I never thought I'd admit it, but I miss LA. I miss the food, the people, the places. I miss the ridiculously hot summers, the drive to my grandparent's cabin in the mountains. I miss having to put on a wetsuit to surf, I miss the smell of neoprene and wax. I miss the point breaks, the kelp, the SCUBA diving. I miss pulling up to Landing Cove on Anacapa island. I miss the food, oh GOD do I miss the food. I miss my family, my home, my friends, my cat, my fish. I wasn't sure if I ever wanted to move back to Los Angeles, but a part of me right now really wants to go back. It was so hard to leave this past time I went home. Every time I go back it get's a little bit harder to go. It's not like I'm going somewhere awful...I live in Hawaii...but I don't know. Maybe it's the freedom of knowing I can get in the car and just GO if I want to. Drive to Monterey along the Pacific Coast Highway at the spur of the moment...camp in my car with my friends for days, living off cold Boca burgers and laughing until we cry in inappropriate places like fancy restaurants, getting rained into our car at 4 in the afternoon in the middle of some forest in Big Sur, driving all the way from Monterey to Camarillo in one day because we didn't want to sleep on the seats again. Ugh, I miss those times, I miss those people.
But...do I leave?
My home now. Beautiful Honolulu. This city, these people, have embraced me with open arms. I have grown so much since I've been here. If I can make it here, I can make it anywhere. This was the first place I moved to on my own, somewhere where I can't drive home, I can't just give up here and call my parents to tell them to come get me. I made it in HAWAII. I paid a ridiculous rent, I paid too much for food, too much for gas. I've done everything the tourists do. People save up for YEARS to get here, and I get to live it everyday. I don't take it for granted, the things and places and experiences I've had here I would probably have never had anywhere else. I moved here to go to a University, I've surfed Waikiki, I've dove the blue waters of Oahu, I've worked with DOLPHINS on Big Island. I've seen a volcano, I've seen the full moon reflect off the telescopes and snow of Mauna Kea. I've seen jungles and waterfalls and sharks and storms and the biggest waves to hit Oahu in years. I've made friends here I don't know if I could ever leave. The people here are beautiful and inviting. I recommend it to anyone who wants to move to Hawaii to just DO IT. I don't know how I could ever say goodbye...
But there's so much I want to do.
I want to go to San Fransisco. I want to live in the fog, I want to wear a scarf. I want to hear the fog horns and see the Golden Gate bridge. I want to see my friends that are living there. I want to volunteer at the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito. I think that is the next step for me. Finish my Vet Assistant license and go to the City by the Bay. I want to get the experience of doing something that's so much more than me, the experience of knowing that my time is being spent doing something that is going to make an impact of another life. I want to be apart of the rehabilitation of marine mammals. I want the whole thing...the rescue, the rehabilitation, the release. I've worked with abalone, inverts, sharks and rays, kelp forest monitoring, maintaining aquariums and aquaculture systems... I got to train dolphins for Pete's sake...but I want to do this so bad. I can do it. I know a lot of people who have told me to do it. Friends of mine have benefited so much from that center. I think that's where my life is puling me right now. I need to get up there. There's a lot up there too, there's Mote Marine Lab, Moss Landing, Monterey Bay Aquarium, Pier 39, Marine World...ugh. I have friends there already. The contract to volunteer is only 6 months, I can get a short term lease, work in a vet's office, volunteer my time...see where life takes me.
This has been such a hard decision for me. There is so much I want to do. I want to be in three places at once. I'm in love with every one of these cities. Two I've known intimately, one is a promise of a love affair. Los Angeles will always have a place in my heart, I grew up there, my family is there...it may always be my home. Honolulu will always be my first, my first getaway, my first "real life" experience...if there IS such a thing as the REAL LIFE... San Fransisco may be my next home...? I don't know, I can't tell you, but I'll let you know when I get there.
I am a hopeless dreamer with the wanderlust syndrome. If I don't act upon these desires I feel hopeless. I have to have something to strive for. If I can incorporate travel, working with marine life and experiencing different places, people, cultures and views on life..*sigh* Why not?
Try to stop me.
Bree...
Today I heard a Spanish guitar and my heart ached. A few nights ago I had a dream I was driving down the 405 freeway. I never thought I'd admit it, but I miss LA. I miss the food, the people, the places. I miss the ridiculously hot summers, the drive to my grandparent's cabin in the mountains. I miss having to put on a wetsuit to surf, I miss the smell of neoprene and wax. I miss the point breaks, the kelp, the SCUBA diving. I miss pulling up to Landing Cove on Anacapa island. I miss the food, oh GOD do I miss the food. I miss my family, my home, my friends, my cat, my fish. I wasn't sure if I ever wanted to move back to Los Angeles, but a part of me right now really wants to go back. It was so hard to leave this past time I went home. Every time I go back it get's a little bit harder to go. It's not like I'm going somewhere awful...I live in Hawaii...but I don't know. Maybe it's the freedom of knowing I can get in the car and just GO if I want to. Drive to Monterey along the Pacific Coast Highway at the spur of the moment...camp in my car with my friends for days, living off cold Boca burgers and laughing until we cry in inappropriate places like fancy restaurants, getting rained into our car at 4 in the afternoon in the middle of some forest in Big Sur, driving all the way from Monterey to Camarillo in one day because we didn't want to sleep on the seats again. Ugh, I miss those times, I miss those people.
But...do I leave?
My home now. Beautiful Honolulu. This city, these people, have embraced me with open arms. I have grown so much since I've been here. If I can make it here, I can make it anywhere. This was the first place I moved to on my own, somewhere where I can't drive home, I can't just give up here and call my parents to tell them to come get me. I made it in HAWAII. I paid a ridiculous rent, I paid too much for food, too much for gas. I've done everything the tourists do. People save up for YEARS to get here, and I get to live it everyday. I don't take it for granted, the things and places and experiences I've had here I would probably have never had anywhere else. I moved here to go to a University, I've surfed Waikiki, I've dove the blue waters of Oahu, I've worked with DOLPHINS on Big Island. I've seen a volcano, I've seen the full moon reflect off the telescopes and snow of Mauna Kea. I've seen jungles and waterfalls and sharks and storms and the biggest waves to hit Oahu in years. I've made friends here I don't know if I could ever leave. The people here are beautiful and inviting. I recommend it to anyone who wants to move to Hawaii to just DO IT. I don't know how I could ever say goodbye...
But there's so much I want to do.
I want to go to San Fransisco. I want to live in the fog, I want to wear a scarf. I want to hear the fog horns and see the Golden Gate bridge. I want to see my friends that are living there. I want to volunteer at the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito. I think that is the next step for me. Finish my Vet Assistant license and go to the City by the Bay. I want to get the experience of doing something that's so much more than me, the experience of knowing that my time is being spent doing something that is going to make an impact of another life. I want to be apart of the rehabilitation of marine mammals. I want the whole thing...the rescue, the rehabilitation, the release. I've worked with abalone, inverts, sharks and rays, kelp forest monitoring, maintaining aquariums and aquaculture systems... I got to train dolphins for Pete's sake...but I want to do this so bad. I can do it. I know a lot of people who have told me to do it. Friends of mine have benefited so much from that center. I think that's where my life is puling me right now. I need to get up there. There's a lot up there too, there's Mote Marine Lab, Moss Landing, Monterey Bay Aquarium, Pier 39, Marine World...ugh. I have friends there already. The contract to volunteer is only 6 months, I can get a short term lease, work in a vet's office, volunteer my time...see where life takes me.
This has been such a hard decision for me. There is so much I want to do. I want to be in three places at once. I'm in love with every one of these cities. Two I've known intimately, one is a promise of a love affair. Los Angeles will always have a place in my heart, I grew up there, my family is there...it may always be my home. Honolulu will always be my first, my first getaway, my first "real life" experience...if there IS such a thing as the REAL LIFE... San Fransisco may be my next home...? I don't know, I can't tell you, but I'll let you know when I get there.
I am a hopeless dreamer with the wanderlust syndrome. If I don't act upon these desires I feel hopeless. I have to have something to strive for. If I can incorporate travel, working with marine life and experiencing different places, people, cultures and views on life..*sigh* Why not?
Try to stop me.
Bree...
Friday, April 9, 2010
It was truly incredible.
Tonight was another one of those nights that all I can say is...I wish you could have been there. It was incredible.
The sunset was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. Definitely one of the top ten sunsets of my life...thus far of course.
I was working, and I had been so absorbed in the routine of busing tables, serving food...that I only realized as I walked out of the kitchen around sunset that the entire dining room was gone. I glanced outside and was blown away. The sky was lit up in neon pink, orange and purple explosions of cloud and streaks of bright colors. It sprawled like glowing fingers across the sky and sparkled the ocean with hot pink and magenta tones. I, of course, ran outside with all my Japanese tourists and stood grinning from ear to ear, camera phone ready of course. It continued to change color, we were all awe struck. Even the kitchen staff had their phones out, taking pictures. I took some and I'd upload it, but I don't know how to send from my phone to the computer...tech savvy huh? But seriously it was so wonderful.
As the ship turned around all of Waikiki was lit up in a glittering glow of high rises and hotels, it looked like thousands of stars fell from the sky and landed on the sand. The glass on the hotels was reflecting the hot pink of the sky and the mountains behind the city were silhouetted against the fading light. It's moments like these when I'm glad I work on a ship.
I really wish you could have been here with me today. All of you. To see this. To see this sunset. To see this day. To see this island. To see the people I work with, the smiles I see, the different tourists running in the sand and learning to surf. The families I meet who have saved up for years to come to Hawaii, the locals who open their hearts and homes to me. The military families that I see come through the ship as final farewell before some of their loved ones head to Iraq. The families I see that celebrate a safe return home. I'd love you to see the crazy kitchen guys I work with, all with their grinning gold teeth and their funny ways of dancing. I wish you could see the excitement when you pop open a glass of champage for a honeymoon couple from Japan. I wish I could show you the rolling lava rocks of Spitting Caves. I want you to see the steep steps up Koko Head. I wish you could see the whales jumping next to the ship, the dolphins chasing our wake. I wish I could show you the turtles that roll in the surf up to your boards and look at your like you're in their way. I wish I could show you all the waterfalls and the over-hiked trails to get to them, the blowholes that only spout SUPER high when the waves are picking up. I wish you could see the waves, the small ones, the big ones, the inbetweens ones. I wish you could see the never ending expanse of ocean in front of me. I want to show you the city, the crowds, the towers of downtown, strips of shopping malls in Waikiki. I want you to see the green mountains, the brown mountains, the lush rainforests, the not-so-lush rainforests. If you close your eyes can you see the white sand beaches?
I wish you could have been there. It was truly incredible.
A hui hou.
Bree :)
The sunset was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. Definitely one of the top ten sunsets of my life...thus far of course.
I was working, and I had been so absorbed in the routine of busing tables, serving food...that I only realized as I walked out of the kitchen around sunset that the entire dining room was gone. I glanced outside and was blown away. The sky was lit up in neon pink, orange and purple explosions of cloud and streaks of bright colors. It sprawled like glowing fingers across the sky and sparkled the ocean with hot pink and magenta tones. I, of course, ran outside with all my Japanese tourists and stood grinning from ear to ear, camera phone ready of course. It continued to change color, we were all awe struck. Even the kitchen staff had their phones out, taking pictures. I took some and I'd upload it, but I don't know how to send from my phone to the computer...tech savvy huh? But seriously it was so wonderful.
As the ship turned around all of Waikiki was lit up in a glittering glow of high rises and hotels, it looked like thousands of stars fell from the sky and landed on the sand. The glass on the hotels was reflecting the hot pink of the sky and the mountains behind the city were silhouetted against the fading light. It's moments like these when I'm glad I work on a ship.
I really wish you could have been here with me today. All of you. To see this. To see this sunset. To see this day. To see this island. To see the people I work with, the smiles I see, the different tourists running in the sand and learning to surf. The families I meet who have saved up for years to come to Hawaii, the locals who open their hearts and homes to me. The military families that I see come through the ship as final farewell before some of their loved ones head to Iraq. The families I see that celebrate a safe return home. I'd love you to see the crazy kitchen guys I work with, all with their grinning gold teeth and their funny ways of dancing. I wish you could see the excitement when you pop open a glass of champage for a honeymoon couple from Japan. I wish I could show you the rolling lava rocks of Spitting Caves. I want you to see the steep steps up Koko Head. I wish you could see the whales jumping next to the ship, the dolphins chasing our wake. I wish I could show you the turtles that roll in the surf up to your boards and look at your like you're in their way. I wish I could show you all the waterfalls and the over-hiked trails to get to them, the blowholes that only spout SUPER high when the waves are picking up. I wish you could see the waves, the small ones, the big ones, the inbetweens ones. I wish you could see the never ending expanse of ocean in front of me. I want to show you the city, the crowds, the towers of downtown, strips of shopping malls in Waikiki. I want you to see the green mountains, the brown mountains, the lush rainforests, the not-so-lush rainforests. If you close your eyes can you see the white sand beaches?
I wish you could have been there. It was truly incredible.
A hui hou.
Bree :)
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Talent!
My dearest apologize for my delayed posts. I was so good about this for a while, now I'm falling behind. I have good reason though! Finally...it's a blessing in disguise... my work has been giving me SO MANY hours!! And it's starting to wear on me...oh man I'm TIRED!
But I've had a productive past few weeks. I made new friends (like I'm in kindergarten!) and they are all pretty much Coast Guard. I love the Coast Guard, seriously some of the sweetest, nicest people I've ever met.
Now I'm just sitting here, waiting for my champagne to chill in the freezer, looking through my talented family's paintings. It's crazy to see all the artistic talent in my family! From Jonathan, my mom, to my uncle and aunt. They are all so wonderful!!
Here's a sneak peak at what the have...you can all find them on facebook!
my mom!
my uncle!
my aunt!
my cousin julianna!
They are all SOOOO talented. My father, my brother, a bunch of people in my family. Check them out!
Hope everyone has an inspired day!
Bree
But I've had a productive past few weeks. I made new friends (like I'm in kindergarten!) and they are all pretty much Coast Guard. I love the Coast Guard, seriously some of the sweetest, nicest people I've ever met.
Now I'm just sitting here, waiting for my champagne to chill in the freezer, looking through my talented family's paintings. It's crazy to see all the artistic talent in my family! From Jonathan, my mom, to my uncle and aunt. They are all so wonderful!!
Here's a sneak peak at what the have...you can all find them on facebook!
my mom!
my uncle!
my aunt!
my cousin julianna!
They are all SOOOO talented. My father, my brother, a bunch of people in my family. Check them out!
Hope everyone has an inspired day!
Bree
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Photos for Your Fancy
Our close friend Josh came out this week. It so turns out that he is a professional photographer and the amazing camera he brought out took some really nice photos of Hawaii. HAHA!
It was a lot of fun, we did a ton this past week. Grady and Josh even went skydiving.. eek! I hiked Manoa Falls, which I had never done before. It was so beautiful to talk into a thick rainforest like you see on Big Island and Kauai, just minutes away from my high-rise apartment in Waikiki.
Here is just a taste of some of the photos. For full photos check out my facebook.
I hope everyone has a wonderful week. Love you all, here's sending you Aloha.
Bree
It was a lot of fun, we did a ton this past week. Grady and Josh even went skydiving.. eek! I hiked Manoa Falls, which I had never done before. It was so beautiful to talk into a thick rainforest like you see on Big Island and Kauai, just minutes away from my high-rise apartment in Waikiki.
Here is just a taste of some of the photos. For full photos check out my facebook.
I hope everyone has a wonderful week. Love you all, here's sending you Aloha.
Bree
Friday, March 19, 2010
Looking to the FUTURE
Tonight at work I saw over 100 dolphins. They were spinners dolphins, small but acrobatic. They were jumping out of the water and doing little flips all over the place, racing the boats and making a ruckus aboard the ships as people ran to the sides to see them. Normally I think that this would have made me really happy. I would have been jumping up and down like all the Japanese girls crying IRUKA IRUKA! But instead, I had a brief moment of glee that was quickly succumbed to a really deep sadness.
I was watching these beautiful animals and just admiring them, when I realized I was holding a filet mignon with black truffle risotto, roasted winter vegetables and cipollini. Behind me there was soft jazz playing, art-deco statues of ladies pressed up against creme-colored walls and I can hear behind, "Sir, another red wine?" I'm wearing a bow-tie, white gloves, dinner jacket...a name tag that says Brianna 5 Star Server. What?? What the HELL am I doing?
Just last summer I was swimming with them, everyday. Swimming and feeding and touching and playing and educating children and families about dolphins. I was full filling people's life-long dreams of being in the water with dolphins. I saw old gramma's cry because they kissed a dolphin and said that they had wanted to do that since they were 16. I saw a little girl who was so excited to get into the water that she left her wheel chair on the beach and crawled into the dolphin lagoon. I was giving sonograms to dolphins, doing blood work, hydrating dolphins, giving vitamins. I was so excited to get up at 5am to go into fish prep and be covered in scales and herring juice just because I got up everyday to play with dolphins, to learn from dolphins, to work with dolphins. I honestly thought, this time last year, I may have found the best career in the world.
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About two years ago, this time, I was working on protecting the environment that these fantastic creatures live in. I was researching invertebrates in the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary, I was going to be an Oceanographer, I was going to discover a species. I was on front pages of newspapers, in magazines, on TV with the group I worked with at Oxnard College. We have a published research project, we were going to present it to a panel in DC. We were recognized by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for our research. School was something I looked forward to, I was working on research vessels. My attire for these boats was bathing suits and dive gear. I didn't even mind spending the hours and hours in closet-spaced lab rooms sorting out microscopic abalone.
This was it, this was my dream. Doors were being flung open at me left and right!
These dreams are all there still, they really are. I promise.
They just got lost I think. I was running so fast towards them, weaving in and out of traffic and road blocks to get to them, that I think I may have surpassed them waiting on the side of the road for me, and now they are playing catch up. I'm huffing and puffing from my sprint, and these dreams are still trying to find me through the road blocks and STOP signs. Someday, someday soon, I'll be there again. I'm breathing and pacing myself on the road right now. I have to finish my Vet Tech license. I can do that. I have to apply to everything that comes my way. I can do that. I can do whatever I want to, I just have to apply myself.
I understand that at least I should be grateful to have a job right now...and I am. It was just this cold slimy dead fish named Reality that slapped me across the face half-way through the dinner cruise tonight. Reality can smell real bad sometimes. And with Reality comes his friend Money. They're good pals, those two. They hang around corners lurking and waiting for you to stumble and they jump out at the same time and surprise you. I think they're working for the head honcho Pessimism. Damn! Where's Optimism and Passion when you need them? About time they come swooping in in their red capes and save the world!
Don't get me wrong, the dolphins racing into the sunset were beautiful. I just wish I was watching them from something besides a dinner cruise boat, and maybe not wearing a bow-tie and gloves next time...
Here's to the future!
Bree
I was watching these beautiful animals and just admiring them, when I realized I was holding a filet mignon with black truffle risotto, roasted winter vegetables and cipollini. Behind me there was soft jazz playing, art-deco statues of ladies pressed up against creme-colored walls and I can hear behind, "Sir, another red wine?" I'm wearing a bow-tie, white gloves, dinner jacket...a name tag that says Brianna 5 Star Server. What?? What the HELL am I doing?
Just last summer I was swimming with them, everyday. Swimming and feeding and touching and playing and educating children and families about dolphins. I was full filling people's life-long dreams of being in the water with dolphins. I saw old gramma's cry because they kissed a dolphin and said that they had wanted to do that since they were 16. I saw a little girl who was so excited to get into the water that she left her wheel chair on the beach and crawled into the dolphin lagoon. I was giving sonograms to dolphins, doing blood work, hydrating dolphins, giving vitamins. I was so excited to get up at 5am to go into fish prep and be covered in scales and herring juice just because I got up everyday to play with dolphins, to learn from dolphins, to work with dolphins. I honestly thought, this time last year, I may have found the best career in the world.
.JPG)
About two years ago, this time, I was working on protecting the environment that these fantastic creatures live in. I was researching invertebrates in the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary, I was going to be an Oceanographer, I was going to discover a species. I was on front pages of newspapers, in magazines, on TV with the group I worked with at Oxnard College. We have a published research project, we were going to present it to a panel in DC. We were recognized by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for our research. School was something I looked forward to, I was working on research vessels. My attire for these boats was bathing suits and dive gear. I didn't even mind spending the hours and hours in closet-spaced lab rooms sorting out microscopic abalone.
This was it, this was my dream. Doors were being flung open at me left and right!
These dreams are all there still, they really are. I promise.
They just got lost I think. I was running so fast towards them, weaving in and out of traffic and road blocks to get to them, that I think I may have surpassed them waiting on the side of the road for me, and now they are playing catch up. I'm huffing and puffing from my sprint, and these dreams are still trying to find me through the road blocks and STOP signs. Someday, someday soon, I'll be there again. I'm breathing and pacing myself on the road right now. I have to finish my Vet Tech license. I can do that. I have to apply to everything that comes my way. I can do that. I can do whatever I want to, I just have to apply myself.
I understand that at least I should be grateful to have a job right now...and I am. It was just this cold slimy dead fish named Reality that slapped me across the face half-way through the dinner cruise tonight. Reality can smell real bad sometimes. And with Reality comes his friend Money. They're good pals, those two. They hang around corners lurking and waiting for you to stumble and they jump out at the same time and surprise you. I think they're working for the head honcho Pessimism. Damn! Where's Optimism and Passion when you need them? About time they come swooping in in their red capes and save the world!
Don't get me wrong, the dolphins racing into the sunset were beautiful. I just wish I was watching them from something besides a dinner cruise boat, and maybe not wearing a bow-tie and gloves next time...
Here's to the future!
Bree
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Catching you up
It has been quiet some time since I have posted anything on here. I don't know why I haven't...not due to lack of motivation or anything, just general laziness.
The past few weeks have absolutely flown by. I saw my brother graduate from the United States Coast Guard. That was incredible and humbling. To be completely jet-lagged, half-way around the world from where I started and see my brother march in a completely changed man was amazing. Within two days I had traveled from Honolulu to Cape May, New Jersey. I was in this kind of strange haze of sleepiness and shock. My cousins had drove from New York to see him graduate and being there with my family and Paige in far away place inside a military base was kind of surreal. When the ceremony started I had no idea what to expect, but when the Guardians of Uniform 182 marched into that graduation hall I was filled with pride. My brother looked completely different, acted completely different...all for the better of course. He had military bearing, was 20 lbs lighter and stood taller. It was so neat! Despite the lack of sleep and the snow flurries it was all and all a good trip.
Right now S.A. Michael Saylor is stationed in New London, Connecticut onboard the CGC Chinook.
In the meantime he said he is living in a "ghost" building. He hasn't seen very many people since he moved...haha.
Not much else happening in my life. Just the general stress that comes along with school, work and trying to figure out a meaning in life. I've almost completed my Stage 5 of my vet assistant training...only 5 more to go. Including an externship..eek!..before I can get a job in "real world"...if there is such a thing.
Alright, off I go into the ominous territory of textbooks and studying.
If I don't see you, good morning, good afternoon and good night.
Bree
The past few weeks have absolutely flown by. I saw my brother graduate from the United States Coast Guard. That was incredible and humbling. To be completely jet-lagged, half-way around the world from where I started and see my brother march in a completely changed man was amazing. Within two days I had traveled from Honolulu to Cape May, New Jersey. I was in this kind of strange haze of sleepiness and shock. My cousins had drove from New York to see him graduate and being there with my family and Paige in far away place inside a military base was kind of surreal. When the ceremony started I had no idea what to expect, but when the Guardians of Uniform 182 marched into that graduation hall I was filled with pride. My brother looked completely different, acted completely different...all for the better of course. He had military bearing, was 20 lbs lighter and stood taller. It was so neat! Despite the lack of sleep and the snow flurries it was all and all a good trip.
Right now S.A. Michael Saylor is stationed in New London, Connecticut onboard the CGC Chinook.
In the meantime he said he is living in a "ghost" building. He hasn't seen very many people since he moved...haha.
Not much else happening in my life. Just the general stress that comes along with school, work and trying to figure out a meaning in life. I've almost completed my Stage 5 of my vet assistant training...only 5 more to go. Including an externship..eek!..before I can get a job in "real world"...if there is such a thing.
Alright, off I go into the ominous territory of textbooks and studying.
If I don't see you, good morning, good afternoon and good night.
Bree
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Happy Tsunami Saturday!
Alright, bear with me, this is going to be the length of a novel. But the only reason I'm doing this is so you not only get an accurate account of what happened yesterday, "Tsunami Saturday", but also so I can look back on this and remember that strange, strange day.
So I usually sleep with my phone near my head, just because I always feel like I'll miss something if I don't. Yesterday morning at 3:58 am, I woke to a buzzing from my cell phone. I was so sleepy, I had gone to bed at 12:30 that night, so with just a few hours of sleep I read the text message on my phone. It was from Kali, telling me that there was a tsunami coming, we were going to possibly be evacuated, and the sirens were going to go off at 6am. So of course, i wake up and go turn on the tv. As the image flickers to life, it opens on the NOAA facility, a gentleman talking about the quickly approaching 12ft tsunami waves that are speeding towards the Hawaiian shores. My first reaction is that they are over-reacting. But as the hour ticks on, it gets more and more serious. People are lining up at Walmart, stores are scheduled to open at 6am so people can stock up. They're saying don't use your tap water once the water surges inland, electricity will be shut off...move to higher land. What the!? What am I SUPPOSED to think!? FEMA is sending troops, and before the wave has even HIT the governor declares Hawaii a State of Emergency. All before 6am!!
I call my dad, let him know of the impending danger, and go wake up Grady. At 6am, the quiet sleepiness of a Saturday morning in Waikiki is rudely awakened by the low, eerie rumbling of the tsunami sirens warming up. It's still dark outside, I rush to my balcony as the symphony of hundreds of simultaneous sirens, all over the island, and all over all of the Hawaiian islands, sound off. The only way to describe this eerie drawl is to envision what you've seen or heard of the air raid sirens from WWII. The low pitch, rising into a high ear-piercing shrill. As the sirens go off and start echoing off the mountains, lights start flickering on in all the hotels and apartment buildings. People come out on their balconies genuinely confused. My knees start to shake, this isn't a drill...it's the real thing. As the shrill sirens die to a hum, my whole house is up...and we're watching as the news casters start making more telephone calls, emergency reports and interviews.
I got dressed and decided that if this is REALLY as bad as everyone says it's going to be...I best go to the grocery store. I had been living off nothing practically, living off rice and water...so Grady and I decide to go get provisions for at least a few days...water bottles, bread. The small grocery store right next to us usually is completely empty. Before 6:10 the line wraps around the store and people start waiting with their water bottles, crackers and the line starts creeping towards the outside door. I waited in line for an HOUR and in that hour learned that Ala Moana shopping center, Windward Mall, most stores, restaurants, jobs...were closed. As I step outside again with my groceries, the sirens blare up again. It was creepy to see no cars on the roads, people running with food and water to their buildings. The sirens didn't die until I was back in my apartment.
Around 9am the situation looks like it's becoming more serious. The view of the ocean from my window that is usually dotted with maybe 3-5 boats is FILLED with ships. Not only small boats but the Coast Guard, Navy, Matson, Young brothers. All the dinner cruises, Navatek, The Star of Honolulu, Ali'i Kai...are all huddled out on the horizon. More and more ships are being forced out of the harbors by the USCG, they're closing the ports and any ships that can't leave, need to be brought out of their slips and onto land. The cop cars start partoling Waikiki, in groups of 2, making announcements through their loud speakers. I can't hear them, but watching the news, it seems as though they are going close down all the streets at 10. A cop car coming down my road, stops below the building, and what he says over his speaker sends chills down my spine...
"Attenion Attention Attention! Tsunami wave's are quickly approaching our shores. They are scheduled to hit at 11:58. Move to higher ground immediately or above the 3rd floor of your hotel or apartment building. This is a mandatory evacuation. Move to higher ground immediately!"
They drove off with their sirens.
10:30 am...the sirens go off again. But their reverberations fall on a ghost town. The hustle and bustle of Hawaii's most populate stretch of beach, their largest influx of tourism...is at a stand still. There are no cars on the streets, no people on the beaches. There are a few stragglers running to their buildings. The only humans you can see are standing on their balconies and roofs of the hotels, watching the water. Watching the hundreds of bobbing ships, being circled by Coast Guard helicopters. The only people on the roads are the occasional police and fire trucks, screaming their warnings to get to higher ground. The entire vibe of the city as the sirens go off again, is tense. It's eerie. It's strangely quiet. Everyone is just...waiting. What else are we supposed to do?
Our elevators are shut off, we've braced for the worst. I figure, it has to be bad...it's on CNN, Fox, everyone knows about it. It's headlines on the internet. Is it going to be Sri Lanka? The lady on the tv says the sirens will go off one more time at 11, than the emergency crews will get to higher ground, and than it's up to us to stay off beaches and roads.
11:00 am. Sirens go off again. Low moans of warming up tsunami sirens. I hold my breath. First wave is supposed to hit Big Island in 5 minutes. Will it be as destructive as they are expecting? They die out, and we are all glued to the tv.
11:05 passes.
11:12 passes.
11:20 passes.
Is this a joke?
Finally what seems to be a tidal change on the webcam in Hilo harbor happens. The rocks that we're covered start to appear, the water turns murky...than the slush of mud and water surges back into the harbor quickly. It happens again another few times. Doesn't look like anything terrible. The news says it's happening on Oahu. They cut to people standing on the cliffs of Diamond Head...the only way to describe their faces is.. "WTF?!" ...nothing.
Nothing.
Let me repeat.
Nothing.
Maybe like a slight tidal change. No surging water rushing out to expose dry reef. No 12ft wave crashing onto shore and destroying everything in it's path.
Than..it was done. Are you SERIOUS!?
Welp, they do say better safe than sorry. But that was definitely anti-climactic. It was actually disappointing. No flooding, no crashes palm trees, no running screaming and utter chaos. I bet they felt like idiots.
Oh oh oh...and to make it that much worse. After they called the whole warning off at 1:58 pm... I had to work on the dinner cruise. No other dinner cruises went out. All the ships that had gone out to sea to avoid the flux of the 12ft monster were coming IN to the harbor. We were going OUT. The only idiots that were going OUT after a day of sirens and warning and panic. Yup. The dinner cruise went OUT.
And it was choppy and it was surgy and they did say that it was because the tsunami. The swells were HUGE and people puked everywhere.
And than the tsunami was done.
And I slept like a baby that night.
Ventura county got more damage and tsunami-ness. My friend Jean posted pictures of her backyard in the harbor, the entire boat dock and boats sitting on mud and than the water rushing back in. That happened two or three times. That was a tsunami!!
It's ok. I heard the sand crab that got flipped over by the wave here in Hawaii was righted and he's living out his days in his tide pool.
...Tsunami Bree
So I usually sleep with my phone near my head, just because I always feel like I'll miss something if I don't. Yesterday morning at 3:58 am, I woke to a buzzing from my cell phone. I was so sleepy, I had gone to bed at 12:30 that night, so with just a few hours of sleep I read the text message on my phone. It was from Kali, telling me that there was a tsunami coming, we were going to possibly be evacuated, and the sirens were going to go off at 6am. So of course, i wake up and go turn on the tv. As the image flickers to life, it opens on the NOAA facility, a gentleman talking about the quickly approaching 12ft tsunami waves that are speeding towards the Hawaiian shores. My first reaction is that they are over-reacting. But as the hour ticks on, it gets more and more serious. People are lining up at Walmart, stores are scheduled to open at 6am so people can stock up. They're saying don't use your tap water once the water surges inland, electricity will be shut off...move to higher land. What the!? What am I SUPPOSED to think!? FEMA is sending troops, and before the wave has even HIT the governor declares Hawaii a State of Emergency. All before 6am!!
I call my dad, let him know of the impending danger, and go wake up Grady. At 6am, the quiet sleepiness of a Saturday morning in Waikiki is rudely awakened by the low, eerie rumbling of the tsunami sirens warming up. It's still dark outside, I rush to my balcony as the symphony of hundreds of simultaneous sirens, all over the island, and all over all of the Hawaiian islands, sound off. The only way to describe this eerie drawl is to envision what you've seen or heard of the air raid sirens from WWII. The low pitch, rising into a high ear-piercing shrill. As the sirens go off and start echoing off the mountains, lights start flickering on in all the hotels and apartment buildings. People come out on their balconies genuinely confused. My knees start to shake, this isn't a drill...it's the real thing. As the shrill sirens die to a hum, my whole house is up...and we're watching as the news casters start making more telephone calls, emergency reports and interviews.
I got dressed and decided that if this is REALLY as bad as everyone says it's going to be...I best go to the grocery store. I had been living off nothing practically, living off rice and water...so Grady and I decide to go get provisions for at least a few days...water bottles, bread. The small grocery store right next to us usually is completely empty. Before 6:10 the line wraps around the store and people start waiting with their water bottles, crackers and the line starts creeping towards the outside door. I waited in line for an HOUR and in that hour learned that Ala Moana shopping center, Windward Mall, most stores, restaurants, jobs...were closed. As I step outside again with my groceries, the sirens blare up again. It was creepy to see no cars on the roads, people running with food and water to their buildings. The sirens didn't die until I was back in my apartment.
Around 9am the situation looks like it's becoming more serious. The view of the ocean from my window that is usually dotted with maybe 3-5 boats is FILLED with ships. Not only small boats but the Coast Guard, Navy, Matson, Young brothers. All the dinner cruises, Navatek, The Star of Honolulu, Ali'i Kai...are all huddled out on the horizon. More and more ships are being forced out of the harbors by the USCG, they're closing the ports and any ships that can't leave, need to be brought out of their slips and onto land. The cop cars start partoling Waikiki, in groups of 2, making announcements through their loud speakers. I can't hear them, but watching the news, it seems as though they are going close down all the streets at 10. A cop car coming down my road, stops below the building, and what he says over his speaker sends chills down my spine...
"Attenion Attention Attention! Tsunami wave's are quickly approaching our shores. They are scheduled to hit at 11:58. Move to higher ground immediately or above the 3rd floor of your hotel or apartment building. This is a mandatory evacuation. Move to higher ground immediately!"
They drove off with their sirens.
10:30 am...the sirens go off again. But their reverberations fall on a ghost town. The hustle and bustle of Hawaii's most populate stretch of beach, their largest influx of tourism...is at a stand still. There are no cars on the streets, no people on the beaches. There are a few stragglers running to their buildings. The only humans you can see are standing on their balconies and roofs of the hotels, watching the water. Watching the hundreds of bobbing ships, being circled by Coast Guard helicopters. The only people on the roads are the occasional police and fire trucks, screaming their warnings to get to higher ground. The entire vibe of the city as the sirens go off again, is tense. It's eerie. It's strangely quiet. Everyone is just...waiting. What else are we supposed to do?
Our elevators are shut off, we've braced for the worst. I figure, it has to be bad...it's on CNN, Fox, everyone knows about it. It's headlines on the internet. Is it going to be Sri Lanka? The lady on the tv says the sirens will go off one more time at 11, than the emergency crews will get to higher ground, and than it's up to us to stay off beaches and roads.
11:00 am. Sirens go off again. Low moans of warming up tsunami sirens. I hold my breath. First wave is supposed to hit Big Island in 5 minutes. Will it be as destructive as they are expecting? They die out, and we are all glued to the tv.
11:05 passes.
11:12 passes.
11:20 passes.
Is this a joke?
Finally what seems to be a tidal change on the webcam in Hilo harbor happens. The rocks that we're covered start to appear, the water turns murky...than the slush of mud and water surges back into the harbor quickly. It happens again another few times. Doesn't look like anything terrible. The news says it's happening on Oahu. They cut to people standing on the cliffs of Diamond Head...the only way to describe their faces is.. "WTF?!" ...nothing.
Nothing.
Let me repeat.
Nothing.
Maybe like a slight tidal change. No surging water rushing out to expose dry reef. No 12ft wave crashing onto shore and destroying everything in it's path.
Than..it was done. Are you SERIOUS!?
Welp, they do say better safe than sorry. But that was definitely anti-climactic. It was actually disappointing. No flooding, no crashes palm trees, no running screaming and utter chaos. I bet they felt like idiots.
Oh oh oh...and to make it that much worse. After they called the whole warning off at 1:58 pm... I had to work on the dinner cruise. No other dinner cruises went out. All the ships that had gone out to sea to avoid the flux of the 12ft monster were coming IN to the harbor. We were going OUT. The only idiots that were going OUT after a day of sirens and warning and panic. Yup. The dinner cruise went OUT.
And it was choppy and it was surgy and they did say that it was because the tsunami. The swells were HUGE and people puked everywhere.
And than the tsunami was done.
And I slept like a baby that night.
Ventura county got more damage and tsunami-ness. My friend Jean posted pictures of her backyard in the harbor, the entire boat dock and boats sitting on mud and than the water rushing back in. That happened two or three times. That was a tsunami!!
It's ok. I heard the sand crab that got flipped over by the wave here in Hawaii was righted and he's living out his days in his tide pool.
...Tsunami Bree
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Little nothings
Just about a week left until Uniform 182 graduates. I can't believe how quickly it went. Not only because it marks when my brother will be done, but because it just shows how quickly time flies. I can't believe how quickly it will be April or July. Geez.
Alright well I don't have much to say today, but I'll definitely keep my eyes open to adventure and post something soon.
Hope everyone has a wonderful week. Here's sending you love and aloha.
Brianna :D
Alright well I don't have much to say today, but I'll definitely keep my eyes open to adventure and post something soon.
Hope everyone has a wonderful week. Here's sending you love and aloha.
Brianna :D
Friday, February 19, 2010
All of Waikiki cheered for YOU tonight
After the crazy madness that I had felt the other day for that job, tonight I was reminded why I work in Hawaii. I cleaned the house (because that's what I do when I want to feel like I've accomplished something...haha) and I am sitting here in my clean apartment, making artichokes and rice, drinking a glass of Merlot, candle lit on my dinner table and from outside I hear a loud !BANG! Like a gun shot, like numerous gunshots! The car alarms start going off and the reverberation off Diamond Head echoed back into my apartment and jolted me from the couch. I ran outside, into the perfect cool Hawaiian night air...and watched the Friday night fireworks explode over my head, illuminating Waikiki beach and sparkling off the high-rises around me. For a few peaceful moments while exploding colors above me tinkled down like thousands of falling stars, I took a moment to pray.
I prayed for my brother in New Jersey and I hoped that he gets his mail this week and all the belated letters of love that were sent to him for Valentine's day. I prayed that he is well and that all of Uniform 182 is succeeding and growing and looking for the light at the end of the tunnel...they're so close! I prayed that my brother Jonathan is successful in his school work and his life. I prayed for my father's health, my mother's happiness, my cat's fat couch-dwelling pleasures. I prayed for my grandfather and grandmother's health, my cousins and aunts and uncles. I prayed for my friends here in Hawaii and far away in California, Ohio, Texas, South Carolina, England..all over the world. I prayed for Grady's ease through his last semester at school, for strength in myself to realize what I have, can and strive to accomplish.
It was at the end of that moment when I realized that THIS is why I work. I work so I can look out at fireworks over a Hawaiian beach on a balmy tropical night. I work so that I can have a moment of prayer from my balcony for my family and friends. It didn't seem so bad in that moment and I felt and still feel extremely blessed.
As the last beautiful bouquets of neon colors fizzled out and the echoes off the surrounding mountains came to an end, all of Waikiki broke their silence. They irrupted into cheer and applause and it was so neat to be able to hear a whole city go up in a roar of happiness. All of the town was watching that with me, and to me, all of the town felt like they were cheering for my prayers and hopes. They were cheering for my brother in the Coast Guard, they were cheering for my family in California. They were cheering for my friends, they were cheering for the other families of Uniform 182. They were helping me cheer all of the people in my life that I want to applaud.
I wish you were here to see this, it was truly wonderful.
I love you all :)
Brianna
I prayed for my brother in New Jersey and I hoped that he gets his mail this week and all the belated letters of love that were sent to him for Valentine's day. I prayed that he is well and that all of Uniform 182 is succeeding and growing and looking for the light at the end of the tunnel...they're so close! I prayed that my brother Jonathan is successful in his school work and his life. I prayed for my father's health, my mother's happiness, my cat's fat couch-dwelling pleasures. I prayed for my grandfather and grandmother's health, my cousins and aunts and uncles. I prayed for my friends here in Hawaii and far away in California, Ohio, Texas, South Carolina, England..all over the world. I prayed for Grady's ease through his last semester at school, for strength in myself to realize what I have, can and strive to accomplish.
It was at the end of that moment when I realized that THIS is why I work. I work so I can look out at fireworks over a Hawaiian beach on a balmy tropical night. I work so that I can have a moment of prayer from my balcony for my family and friends. It didn't seem so bad in that moment and I felt and still feel extremely blessed.
As the last beautiful bouquets of neon colors fizzled out and the echoes off the surrounding mountains came to an end, all of Waikiki broke their silence. They irrupted into cheer and applause and it was so neat to be able to hear a whole city go up in a roar of happiness. All of the town was watching that with me, and to me, all of the town felt like they were cheering for my prayers and hopes. They were cheering for my brother in the Coast Guard, they were cheering for my family in California. They were cheering for my friends, they were cheering for the other families of Uniform 182. They were helping me cheer all of the people in my life that I want to applaud.
I wish you were here to see this, it was truly wonderful.
I love you all :)
Brianna
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
5 star fail.
It's been a while since I've been able to blog. Not that I haven't had time, just that nothing really exciting has happened. But today Uniform 182 posted a short, but non the less, blog. I realized it's only about 2 weeks away until I get to see their graduation!! I'm so proud! :D
Work today was pretty lame, I was told I need to wear a hair net. YES. Hair NET. And that I can't wear a head band. WTF!?!?!?! It's a 5 star..."5 star"...restaurant (kinda). Hair net!? That's like Denny's. That's like Denny's dirty kitchen workers. I told them I should just shave my eyebrows off and pencil them in and than get some big lip stick and draw it on and talk vato. And I also asked them what I'm supposed to do with my hair. They want me to slick it back with gel...flat against my head..and get a hair net. Um...
N O
Ok!!?? You're NOT fancy restaurant! You are a cafeteria-style dinner cruise that's CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP. It's not cooked on site, there are no chefs in the kitchen, you get watered-down drinks and you want your servers to wear HAIR NETS!?! Ew, NOT 5 star. I think that you should go to Roy's or Kahala Hotel or Alan Wongs or even effing CHEESECAKE factory for better food. Give me a break. I spend money for parking, for nylons and now for hair nets. Yeah...R I I I I I I I G H T.
Anyway. Rant over.
Hope everyone had a good Valentine's Day. :)
Love you all,
Bree
Work today was pretty lame, I was told I need to wear a hair net. YES. Hair NET. And that I can't wear a head band. WTF!?!?!?! It's a 5 star..."5 star"...restaurant (kinda). Hair net!? That's like Denny's. That's like Denny's dirty kitchen workers. I told them I should just shave my eyebrows off and pencil them in and than get some big lip stick and draw it on and talk vato. And I also asked them what I'm supposed to do with my hair. They want me to slick it back with gel...flat against my head..and get a hair net. Um...
N O
Ok!!?? You're NOT fancy restaurant! You are a cafeteria-style dinner cruise that's CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP. It's not cooked on site, there are no chefs in the kitchen, you get watered-down drinks and you want your servers to wear HAIR NETS!?! Ew, NOT 5 star. I think that you should go to Roy's or Kahala Hotel or Alan Wongs or even effing CHEESECAKE factory for better food. Give me a break. I spend money for parking, for nylons and now for hair nets. Yeah...R I I I I I I I G H T.
Anyway. Rant over.
Hope everyone had a good Valentine's Day. :)
Love you all,
Bree
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Splurging
I celebrated an early Valentine's Day dinner last night with Grady at Roy's, a restaurant that we hardly afforded. But it was so worth it. What's life without splurging every now and than? Besides this was our 5th Valentine's Day spent together so might as well. I brought my camera because my dad loves to take pictures of his food. I forgot to take a picture of the main course because I got a little too excited about the food.
Appetizer, blackened Ahi, edamame.
Dessert, chocolate souffle :D! Sooooooo good!!
I don't usually eat fish though, and eating it for an appetizer and a main course really hurt my stomach and I ended up going home and burping up most of it. But it was good while it lasted.
We're just waiting on a call from Michael this weekend, so excited to hear where he will end up!! And just a few more weeks until I get to go see him in Jersey!!
Alright, I'm going to go back to looking on Craigslist.com for apartment and townhomes in Ventura/Oxnard/Channel Islands. They're so cheap! 1 bedroom or even 2 bed 2 bath apartments, dogs and cats OK, fully furnished and close the beach for less than 1500!!! WHAAAAT!?! I guess it's because the place I started living on my own and providing a rent for myself is some of the most expensive real estate in the world...Waikiki Beach Oahu. But HEY! If I can make it here, I can make it anywhere!!
Have a super splendid dayyyyyy!
Breeeeee
Appetizer, blackened Ahi, edamame.
Dessert, chocolate souffle :D! Sooooooo good!!
I don't usually eat fish though, and eating it for an appetizer and a main course really hurt my stomach and I ended up going home and burping up most of it. But it was good while it lasted.
We're just waiting on a call from Michael this weekend, so excited to hear where he will end up!! And just a few more weeks until I get to go see him in Jersey!!
Alright, I'm going to go back to looking on Craigslist.com for apartment and townhomes in Ventura/Oxnard/Channel Islands. They're so cheap! 1 bedroom or even 2 bed 2 bath apartments, dogs and cats OK, fully furnished and close the beach for less than 1500!!! WHAAAAT!?! I guess it's because the place I started living on my own and providing a rent for myself is some of the most expensive real estate in the world...Waikiki Beach Oahu. But HEY! If I can make it here, I can make it anywhere!!
Have a super splendid dayyyyyy!
Breeeeee
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Semper Paratus!
I'm never eating Taco Bell ever EVER E V E R again. It's not as good the next day as it was the first day. Ew, anyway.
I saw this wonderful picture today of Uniform 182 doing their first humanitarian mission, digging people out of the snow that were snowed in. My mom got a letter today from Michael that said how when they were marching off base to dig people out, they were cheering them on and thanking them because otherwise they were going to be stuck in the snow. Jersey was called a state of disaster and they were going to move the Coasties off base to an Army base up north because their base had no power. Crazy! Just makes me thankful for being here in Hawaii where it is nice and warm!!
Well, tonight is night number 8 at work. Finally a day off tomorrow...phew! Hope everyone has a wonderful day and evening! :)
Namaste!
Bree
I saw this wonderful picture today of Uniform 182 doing their first humanitarian mission, digging people out of the snow that were snowed in. My mom got a letter today from Michael that said how when they were marching off base to dig people out, they were cheering them on and thanking them because otherwise they were going to be stuck in the snow. Jersey was called a state of disaster and they were going to move the Coasties off base to an Army base up north because their base had no power. Crazy! Just makes me thankful for being here in Hawaii where it is nice and warm!!
Well, tonight is night number 8 at work. Finally a day off tomorrow...phew! Hope everyone has a wonderful day and evening! :)
Namaste!
Bree
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Uniform (182/Star of Honolulu)
Ok so here goes something totally embarrassing. But it's ok because my mom wanted to see it....
Kali and I in our work uniforms...oh geez. Kali is working at a photographer on the Star of Honolulu, I'm working as a 5 star server (note the freakin bowtie and gloves).
Anyway last night while I was at work, two Coasties rode. I told them my brother was Uniform 182 and they said that they had graduated Xray 181 last year. They reassured me that everything after week 5 gets easier and that everything is downhill from here. They also told me to be prepared to cry and graduation and that not all of bootcamp is the Coast Guard. I started to get choked up as they were saying this. Haha. Especially because all over the news it is just saying how bad the weather is on the East Coast. Cape May county is without power and from DC to Jersey has had A TON of snow! But the USCG website posted a note today saying that the base has power and that everything is going on as normal. Phew!
Well hope everyone has a good day, I hope that everyone has a good Superbowl and I hope that everyone stays warm (because I'm toasty over here in Honolulu!)
Love you all,
Bree :)
Kali and I in our work uniforms...oh geez. Kali is working at a photographer on the Star of Honolulu, I'm working as a 5 star server (note the freakin bowtie and gloves).
Anyway last night while I was at work, two Coasties rode. I told them my brother was Uniform 182 and they said that they had graduated Xray 181 last year. They reassured me that everything after week 5 gets easier and that everything is downhill from here. They also told me to be prepared to cry and graduation and that not all of bootcamp is the Coast Guard. I started to get choked up as they were saying this. Haha. Especially because all over the news it is just saying how bad the weather is on the East Coast. Cape May county is without power and from DC to Jersey has had A TON of snow! But the USCG website posted a note today saying that the base has power and that everything is going on as normal. Phew!
Well hope everyone has a good day, I hope that everyone has a good Superbowl and I hope that everyone stays warm (because I'm toasty over here in Honolulu!)
Love you all,
Bree :)
Friday, February 5, 2010
Hiking Koko Head Crater
We received a letter from my brother a few days ago...well more technically his girlfriend got a letter and emailed it to all of us. Sounds like he's hanging in there. I'm so excited to go see him in March! Less than a month!! I'm proud of him :)
In other news, I hiked Koko Head Crater two days ago. OMG the HARDEST thing I've ever done! Over 1,000 steps to the top. At one point I thought I was going to puke, haha! But the view was INCREDIBLE and it was something I've wanted to do for a long time. At one point it was completely vertical and if you stumbled you'd probably roll down the rest of the stairs. The stairs are actually old railroad ties and there's even one point where you have to cross a bridge of nothing but railroad ties. Insane! But once you get to the top and see the view it is totally worth it. From the vantage point where I was sitting...legs shaking and trying not to throw up, it was as if nothing was below me, as if I was floating above the eastern side of Oahu. It was breath taking, almost scary, because I've never been that high on my own accord. It was really neat to know that I was so high and I had gotten myself up there. I didn't take any pictures because I didn't take my camera (rightfully so because I my hands to pull myself up the stairs most of the time) but here is some photos someone else has taken of Koko Head.
the mountain..
the stairs..
the vertical stairs..
the view towards hanauma bay...
AMAZING HUH!? Well when you come out here, you can come see it too :)...and suffer the consequences two days letter...ouch...
Aloha, miss you all!
Bree :)
In other news, I hiked Koko Head Crater two days ago. OMG the HARDEST thing I've ever done! Over 1,000 steps to the top. At one point I thought I was going to puke, haha! But the view was INCREDIBLE and it was something I've wanted to do for a long time. At one point it was completely vertical and if you stumbled you'd probably roll down the rest of the stairs. The stairs are actually old railroad ties and there's even one point where you have to cross a bridge of nothing but railroad ties. Insane! But once you get to the top and see the view it is totally worth it. From the vantage point where I was sitting...legs shaking and trying not to throw up, it was as if nothing was below me, as if I was floating above the eastern side of Oahu. It was breath taking, almost scary, because I've never been that high on my own accord. It was really neat to know that I was so high and I had gotten myself up there. I didn't take any pictures because I didn't take my camera (rightfully so because I my hands to pull myself up the stairs most of the time) but here is some photos someone else has taken of Koko Head.
the mountain..
the stairs..
the vertical stairs..
the view towards hanauma bay...
AMAZING HUH!? Well when you come out here, you can come see it too :)...and suffer the consequences two days letter...ouch...
Aloha, miss you all!
Bree :)
Monday, February 1, 2010
RUN!! THE PROM DRESSES ARE COMING!
Simple things that make me happy. Like being able to pay my rent and have some more money left over for spending. Granted it's not THAT much money left...haha but knowing that I didn't have to borrow any money (I thought I wasn't going to make it) and know that it's all my OWN money makes me happy. And it's all because I work my bootay off!!
Speaking of working. I had some CRAZY stuff happen to me a few nights ago! There was a charter on our top deck of our ship, the charter was called "Dream Club". It was a cosmetic company from Japan, something like Mary Kay, and they were the top sellers of their company. 90 of them had won a trip to Hawaii and were having their going-away dinner on the Star of Honolulu.
So here comes onto our ship 90 decked out Japanese women in full prom dresses, HUGE jewelery, crazy hair pieces, fur coats, way too done-up makeup...all 90 of them speaking in high-pitched tones. We told them that we were going to seat them, and we were standing in the dining room (because they go out to the back deck to take pictures with the Captain) and we're holding trays of drinks. Out of nowhere there's a rumbling on the ship. The whole ship starts to shake and all of a sudden, theres 90 Japanese women RUNNING and screaming at us. It was like a bad game show. Prom dresses flying, full out SPRINTING at us from both sides. All of us ducked and hid and tried not to drop our drinks as they ran past us grabbing and shoving and playing high-pitched rock-paper-scissors so they could sit next to the owner of the company. It was something out of a movie. All I could do was laugh because I was scared for my life. When the Captain came to toast, they irrupted into cheers and screams of "HAI!" One of the servers literally couldn't serve because all the girls lined up to take photos with him the entire night. They were sitting on the floor so others could see the jazz show while they waited to take pictures with him...hahahaha!
Earlier that morning we hiked the Lanikai pillbox to a lookout that over-looked all of the windward side. Here's some photos :)
That's my favorite slug ever haha!
Alright off to take Grady to school, do some homework and nurse my sea urchin wounds, haha :) Hope everyone has a good day!
Bree
Speaking of working. I had some CRAZY stuff happen to me a few nights ago! There was a charter on our top deck of our ship, the charter was called "Dream Club". It was a cosmetic company from Japan, something like Mary Kay, and they were the top sellers of their company. 90 of them had won a trip to Hawaii and were having their going-away dinner on the Star of Honolulu.
So here comes onto our ship 90 decked out Japanese women in full prom dresses, HUGE jewelery, crazy hair pieces, fur coats, way too done-up makeup...all 90 of them speaking in high-pitched tones. We told them that we were going to seat them, and we were standing in the dining room (because they go out to the back deck to take pictures with the Captain) and we're holding trays of drinks. Out of nowhere there's a rumbling on the ship. The whole ship starts to shake and all of a sudden, theres 90 Japanese women RUNNING and screaming at us. It was like a bad game show. Prom dresses flying, full out SPRINTING at us from both sides. All of us ducked and hid and tried not to drop our drinks as they ran past us grabbing and shoving and playing high-pitched rock-paper-scissors so they could sit next to the owner of the company. It was something out of a movie. All I could do was laugh because I was scared for my life. When the Captain came to toast, they irrupted into cheers and screams of "HAI!" One of the servers literally couldn't serve because all the girls lined up to take photos with him the entire night. They were sitting on the floor so others could see the jazz show while they waited to take pictures with him...hahahaha!
Earlier that morning we hiked the Lanikai pillbox to a lookout that over-looked all of the windward side. Here's some photos :)
That's my favorite slug ever haha!
Alright off to take Grady to school, do some homework and nurse my sea urchin wounds, haha :) Hope everyone has a good day!
Bree
Friday, January 29, 2010
Blah Blah Blah
So tired, Kali and I are watching Pride and Prejudice, AGAIN. I'm going hiking to the Lanikai pillbox tomorrow morning, than a hectic night at work (90 people...yuck!). Spent all day on the phone with people like SallieMae, Motion Picture and ABC. Yuck I wish money grew on trees...
I tried finishing my "List of things I want to do before I die"...so far I'm at 27! Not too shabby :)
We'll Grady got an underwater digital FLIP camera!! So we will take some video at Lanikai beach and I got batteries for my camera so I'll take lots of photos too.
the sunset from my balcony last night
sunset towards diamond head
fireworks about five minutes ago from my balcony :)
Hope everyone has a good night, hope everyone has a splendid weekend!
Namaste!
Bree
ps...gotta write my brother another letter...memo to self.... :)
I tried finishing my "List of things I want to do before I die"...so far I'm at 27! Not too shabby :)
We'll Grady got an underwater digital FLIP camera!! So we will take some video at Lanikai beach and I got batteries for my camera so I'll take lots of photos too.
the sunset from my balcony last night
sunset towards diamond head
fireworks about five minutes ago from my balcony :)
Hope everyone has a good night, hope everyone has a splendid weekend!
Namaste!
Bree
ps...gotta write my brother another letter...memo to self.... :)
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
The Law of Attraction
Second post of the day.
I told you the Law of Attraction worked.
Literally less than a half hour after I posted that something amazing happened.
Ticket prices dropped and my mom called me to tell me that I can afford to fly from Honolulu to see my brother graduate from the USCG. One thing crossed off my list.
I'm going to Jersey!! :D
I told you the Law of Attraction worked.
Literally less than a half hour after I posted that something amazing happened.
Ticket prices dropped and my mom called me to tell me that I can afford to fly from Honolulu to see my brother graduate from the USCG. One thing crossed off my list.
I'm going to Jersey!! :D
What do you want to do before you die?
I watched that show "The Buried Life" and it started me wondering about my own life. If you haven't watched it, it's about 4 guys who asked themselves, "What do I want to do before I die?" and than they made a list of 100 things they wanted to do before they died. As they go around doing their list, they help someone they meet along the way do something they want to do before they die. Last night they made a toast a stranger's wedding, and helped and artist find his son he hadn't talked to in 17 years.
I figured if someone came up to me right now and asked me, "What do you want to do before you die?" I wouldn't know where to begin. Right this very moment there are a few things I want to be able to do. I think I'd tell them 4 things that come to my mind right away:
1. See my brother graduate from the USCG
2. See my youngest brother grow up to be happy and successful
3. Send my parents to Tahiti (because they were going to go until I was born...)
4. Adopt an animal from a shelter
Of course there are others, and I think I may sit down today and actually write some of them down. It's crazy because a lot of the stuff I said 5 years ago I wanted to do before I died, I've gotten the opportunity to do. I guess it comes down to the Law of Attraction, and whatever you put out into the world will come back to you. So I guess I'll write down my list and put it out there into the world. I'll see if the Law of Attraction will bring it back to me and I'll get the chance to do some of the amazing things that I would love to do before I die. I guess if they are written down, I may realize I've done a lot of them or they are things that aren't actually all that hard to obtain after all.
So I guess my question to you is...
What do YOU want to do before you die??
I figured if someone came up to me right now and asked me, "What do you want to do before you die?" I wouldn't know where to begin. Right this very moment there are a few things I want to be able to do. I think I'd tell them 4 things that come to my mind right away:
1. See my brother graduate from the USCG
2. See my youngest brother grow up to be happy and successful
3. Send my parents to Tahiti (because they were going to go until I was born...)
4. Adopt an animal from a shelter
Of course there are others, and I think I may sit down today and actually write some of them down. It's crazy because a lot of the stuff I said 5 years ago I wanted to do before I died, I've gotten the opportunity to do. I guess it comes down to the Law of Attraction, and whatever you put out into the world will come back to you. So I guess I'll write down my list and put it out there into the world. I'll see if the Law of Attraction will bring it back to me and I'll get the chance to do some of the amazing things that I would love to do before I die. I guess if they are written down, I may realize I've done a lot of them or they are things that aren't actually all that hard to obtain after all.
So I guess my question to you is...
What do YOU want to do before you die??
Monday, January 25, 2010
Peectures
I saw a Japanese guy that had a shirt that said "Haole" on it.
...??
Weird.
The vog has yet to go away. I'm sitting here watching the surf movie Sprout...GREAT movie if anyone wants a decent movie to watch. It's making me itch to go surfing. But I gotta take Grady to school,get some fancy white gloves for work, take some pictures with Kali and than actually apply those fancy dinner gloves in 5 star tonight. Surfing tomorrow...fooo shooooooooo.
My mom has started a painting studio in our house and I'm trying to find some inspiration to take some nice photos for her to paint here in Hawaii. Mom! Maybe I'll send you some pictures that Kali has taken. I bought batteries for my camera so that way I can go sit at Spitting Caves and maybe find some more whales to take pictures of :)
I shall bid you adieu...but leave you with a photo (that I did not take) of the beautiful Lanikai beach that I went to yesterday.
ADIEU!
...??
Weird.
The vog has yet to go away. I'm sitting here watching the surf movie Sprout...GREAT movie if anyone wants a decent movie to watch. It's making me itch to go surfing. But I gotta take Grady to school,get some fancy white gloves for work, take some pictures with Kali and than actually apply those fancy dinner gloves in 5 star tonight. Surfing tomorrow...fooo shooooooooo.
My mom has started a painting studio in our house and I'm trying to find some inspiration to take some nice photos for her to paint here in Hawaii. Mom! Maybe I'll send you some pictures that Kali has taken. I bought batteries for my camera so that way I can go sit at Spitting Caves and maybe find some more whales to take pictures of :)
I shall bid you adieu...but leave you with a photo (that I did not take) of the beautiful Lanikai beach that I went to yesterday.
ADIEU!
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Its so VOGGY
I can't even see Diamond Head clearly!! I'm sitting on my couch looking out at Waikiki and if I didn't know it was volcano fog, I'd assume we were in LA and it was a really smoggy or even smoky day. Yuck, even the sun has a red tinge to it...
Yesterday was crazy. It is whale season here in Hawaii and the humpback whales have made their long journey from Alaska to Hawaii to have their babies. I've been counting down the days until the whales came back and yesterday we went to Diamond Head to find some. We saw some spouts from outside the reef and I practically keeled over from excitement. So we decided to keep cruising along the coast of the island to the eastern side where (on a clear day) you can Moloka'i, Lana'i and Maui. There is a place called Spitting Caves of Portlock, a place where the boys jumped off the rolling dried lava rock into a cave that spits you out... and we sat on the cliff to wait for whales. Than, out of no where, to the right of us, coming along the side of the drop off, was 2 whales.
Than RIGHT in front of us, about 100 yards in front of us...like I could have jumped off and rode their backs...a mom and calf came up and breathed right in front of us. It was INCREDIBLE. The baby made a high-pitched SQUEEEEEEEK as it blew out the air and went for a deep dive and his little tail slapped the water. It was like they were their just for us and the two other people that saw it on the cliff. So amazingly humbling and beautiful :)
Alright, off to run errands and work at 2:30..yuck. Hope everyone has a good day.
Breeeeeeeeeeeee
Yesterday was crazy. It is whale season here in Hawaii and the humpback whales have made their long journey from Alaska to Hawaii to have their babies. I've been counting down the days until the whales came back and yesterday we went to Diamond Head to find some. We saw some spouts from outside the reef and I practically keeled over from excitement. So we decided to keep cruising along the coast of the island to the eastern side where (on a clear day) you can Moloka'i, Lana'i and Maui. There is a place called Spitting Caves of Portlock, a place where the boys jumped off the rolling dried lava rock into a cave that spits you out... and we sat on the cliff to wait for whales. Than, out of no where, to the right of us, coming along the side of the drop off, was 2 whales.
Than RIGHT in front of us, about 100 yards in front of us...like I could have jumped off and rode their backs...a mom and calf came up and breathed right in front of us. It was INCREDIBLE. The baby made a high-pitched SQUEEEEEEEK as it blew out the air and went for a deep dive and his little tail slapped the water. It was like they were their just for us and the two other people that saw it on the cliff. So amazingly humbling and beautiful :)
Alright, off to run errands and work at 2:30..yuck. Hope everyone has a good day.
Breeeeeeeeeeeee
Friday, January 22, 2010
learning to say goodbye...
...to 80 dollars.
So last night, under an honest mistake, I was jipped out of an 80 dollar tip. It really was an honest mistake, the girl had sold the 240 dollar Dom Perignon to the guests in my section, so she was going to get the commission. Sucks, but that is how it works. Than, when the end of the night came around, we were all running around like chickens with our head's cut off (the owner of the company was riding 5 star...) the guest's signed their credit card receipt for their Dom and added an 80 dollar tip to it. They handed it to me while I was holding a tray of wine glasses and the bar tender grabbed it so he could close the bar. I forgot to write my name on the top of the slip because I was in such a rush.
At the end of the night when I had realized what I had done and went running to the bartenders to try to get the receipt, it had already been filed. So, they told me, the horrifying news that it will either go to the company...F THAT...or to the girl who sold the Dom because her name was on the commission and the credit card was paying for the Dom.
I was pissed.
Granted it was an honest mistake and she does deserve it, she works really hard and is putting her money away so she can go to a Military school and pay for her mom and brother to survive here in Hawaii...but *sigh* ugggggh! It still sucks. I'd rather have the money go to her than to the company...like they need anymore money...but wow what a bummer. They tipped me 10 dollars cash at least. But still.
Anyway working 5 Star on a ship means that I get an awesome *rolls eyes* tuxedo jacket with gold cuff links, a bow tie and white gloves. It's not that hard but oh boy do you feel like an idiot when people first walk on the ship and look at you like....WTF? ahahaha. All I did yesterday was look for whales, to no avail.
But speaking of whales, Grady and I are going to take advantage of the nice...kinda voggy...weather and go to the Windward side and try to find some whales of our own.
Hope everyone has a good day!
Bree
stuck somewhere on my little rock in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
So last night, under an honest mistake, I was jipped out of an 80 dollar tip. It really was an honest mistake, the girl had sold the 240 dollar Dom Perignon to the guests in my section, so she was going to get the commission. Sucks, but that is how it works. Than, when the end of the night came around, we were all running around like chickens with our head's cut off (the owner of the company was riding 5 star...) the guest's signed their credit card receipt for their Dom and added an 80 dollar tip to it. They handed it to me while I was holding a tray of wine glasses and the bar tender grabbed it so he could close the bar. I forgot to write my name on the top of the slip because I was in such a rush.
At the end of the night when I had realized what I had done and went running to the bartenders to try to get the receipt, it had already been filed. So, they told me, the horrifying news that it will either go to the company...F THAT...or to the girl who sold the Dom because her name was on the commission and the credit card was paying for the Dom.
I was pissed.
Granted it was an honest mistake and she does deserve it, she works really hard and is putting her money away so she can go to a Military school and pay for her mom and brother to survive here in Hawaii...but *sigh* ugggggh! It still sucks. I'd rather have the money go to her than to the company...like they need anymore money...but wow what a bummer. They tipped me 10 dollars cash at least. But still.
Anyway working 5 Star on a ship means that I get an awesome *rolls eyes* tuxedo jacket with gold cuff links, a bow tie and white gloves. It's not that hard but oh boy do you feel like an idiot when people first walk on the ship and look at you like....WTF? ahahaha. All I did yesterday was look for whales, to no avail.
But speaking of whales, Grady and I are going to take advantage of the nice...kinda voggy...weather and go to the Windward side and try to find some whales of our own.
Hope everyone has a good day!
Bree
stuck somewhere on my little rock in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
You beautiful B!@&#
That's the night view from my balcony.
Oh Oahu.
You beautiful bitch.
This island is gorgeous and the weather is always lovely. I ended up surfing in the rain today and it wasn't like the rain that is tormenting California right now. It was warm and created a very lovely rainbow above the green mountains. I sat in the crystal blue water, floating over a tropical coral reef, waiting for the waves to come in, watching the sunset in Waikiki beach. *sigh* hard I know...
But everyone is so far away!! Oahu is gorgeous but I want all my friends and family here!! I want them to see this! I want them to drive up Tantalus with me like I did today. I want them to take in the view of the entire south shore of the island. I want them to surf with me, watch the sunset with me and look at the view of the city lights from the 33rd floor. :(
Oahu you tropical conniving deceiver!
Anyway....
Today was relatively productive. Got my car jumped this morning...my battery had died with I got home from California..haha. Went to Costco and got a ton of healthy food (the idea was to stay healthy for a while so that I wasn't a total qgjklqgqklgjkql). Drove up Tantalus, went for a surf and came home and had a nice workout. Grady and I were going to have dinner of just some portabella mushrooms and salad ( we had Costco pizza for lunch/breakfast...). That quickly turned into a healthy FAIL. My mushrooms became smothered with garlic salt and teri sauce and bbqed to be put on top of a cheese bagel (I ran out of buns OK!?!) and topped with some mayo that was smothered in garlic salt and lawrys seasoned salt. It was surprisingly good! My salad was smothered in blue cheese and I topped it off with a beer and cookies... >o
Hahaha. Start work on the 5 star Nova deck tomorrow...oo lala..not. Kali starts on the ship on Friday and maybe even Travis will get a job on the boat. My apartment will soon run the company Paradise Cruises! MWHAHAHAH my plot to take over the world one cheesy dinner-cruise at a time is coming true!!!!!!!!!!
Good night, I have to shower and get the salt out of my hair :)
Bree
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